Unrelinquished Love
by monkey-monkey-underpants07
Summary: This picks up where Instant star season 4 left off. Basically, Jude has been in London for two months. She has a new label, great appartment and fans who love her. Everything seems perfect...so why doesn't she feel perfect? Jommy/Kwadie
1. The Walls of Sanity The Pains of Reality

Plot Overview: This story picks up where Instant Star left off at the end of Season 4. I wasn't happy with that ending (especially since it was the series finale), so I decided to continue it. Jude has been living in London for the past 2 months with the perfect life. She has a new label, great apartment and fans who love her. To her life seemed perfect, so why didn't it feel perfect? Her and Tommy haven't talked since she left. (It's a total Jommy/Kwadie in case you were wondering.)

A/N: This is my first fanfiction, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. I would love your comments telling me things you liked and didn't like (get specific), things you would like to see happen (I'm open to ideas, because I have an ending in mind but the stuff in the middle isn't set yet. So all help would be appreciated) and anything else you want to add.

ENJOY!

**Chapter One: The Walls of Sanity, the Pains of Reality**

As Jude practically leapt of the stage after her show, she smiled as the fans continued to cheer. Since her arrival in London two months ago, she had had huge success. A new album was on the horizon, she loved her new label and she loved her new fans! Everything was perfect.

As she walked backstage, receiving pats on the back and "great show"s from those around, she headed for her car and instantly went home. Yes, Jude Harrison's life seemed perfect-so why didn't it feel perfect?

As she stood in the elevator she watched the numbers light up as she approached her floor. She found herself leaning on the walls and dozing off. When the elevator's final ding signified her arrival, she practically had to drag herself out of the elevator and down the hall to her door. After fumbling with her keys for what seemed like forever, and mumbling angry words every time they slipped through her tired fingers, she finally opened her door and stumbled inside. The door shut behind her and she walked two feet before collapsing onto the couch. She was entirely too tired to move any further. So she kicked off her shoes and pulled a blanket off the couch and closed her eyes.

Jude's eyes shot open at the sound of Sadie's voice. "Jude, Jude? Jude! Are you even listening to me?"

Even in this confusion, Jude couldn't help but chuckle at how self centered that sounded. But it was Sadie. Jude looked around and found herself in an oddly familiar room, with light rosy walls, elegant wall paper and a vanity standing next to a full length mirror. Still confused, Jude proceeded to look around before finally realizing her sister was still in front of her awaiting an answer.

"Um, what?" Jude asked confused, the words barely making it out.

Sadie looked slightly annoyed, sighed deeply then began the question she had just asked for the 10th time. "I asked if everything was okay with your dress? You didn't spill anything on it did you?"

"What dre-" The words faded out. Jude was left speechless and she looked down to see herself in an elegant white dress, with beads and ruffles and the perfect skirt. Confused Jude took a double take of the room. Finally realizing where she knew it from. It was the church by her family's farm. The church Sadie used to drag her to so they could watch weddings, the church she always envisioned herself being married in.

"Holy crap, I'm getting married!" Jude practically shouted, with shock and fear dripping off every word.

Sadie looked at her younger sister with a half confused, half concerned look on her face. But after a moment of silence, she just chuckled and knelt down in front of Jude. Placing her hands carefully, so not to ruin the dress, on Jude's knees. Sadie looked into her sisters eyes and soothingly said, "Yes, yes you are. But since when did you forget? I haven't been able to make you shut up about this for the past 3 months. Oh and the count down, I swear your excitement got ridiculous, and now you forget about it. Who are you, and what have you done with Jude?"  
She laughed at the last question and patted her sister on the head before rising to her feet.

Jude followed and soon they were standing in front of a very large door that could only lead to one place. And sure enough as it opened, Jude stood in awe as she looked down the aisle, and her dad stepped up next to her to take her arm.

"You ready, pumpkin?" He asked anxiously. His little girl was getting married. He couldn't get over it. His girl, his baby was all of a sudden grown up. He contemplated expressing his doubts about this, she was so young and they could always post pone the wedding, but as he looked at Jude a new feeling washed over him. She was beautiful, and grown up and so mature. She was ready. And so with that, Stuart Harrison took a deep breath and led his baby girl down the aisle toward her new life.

They made it to the door of the chapel. Jude was too confused to verbally ask questions. Her thoughts were so jumbled she wasn't sure if words could even form properly. But one question did consume her thoughts. "Who in the crap am I marrying?"

Standing in the doorway, Jude searched the crowd trying desperately to see the face of the groom who, conveniently, had his head turned around as he mumbled something to his best friend. Jude recognized the best man; it was Kwest with a giant smile on his face as he nodded toward the bride that had just entered. And in unison with the groom, the crowd turned and stood and the organ began.

Focusing on her breathing, Jude stared at the face of the groom waiting at the top of the aisle. She was so deep in thought she wasn't even sure she was smiling. But every one else was and so was her almost-husband. Jude took the final steps before her dad turned her to face him, kissed her on the cheek and handed her over to the love of her life.

Jude took his hand, stepped forward and with a deep breath stared into his eyes. She knew those blue eyes more than anything else in this world. They were deep and always exposed his true feelings; and right now they were flooded with happiness. A smile spread across her lips as the priest began.

_Tommy. _She thought _I'm marrying Tommy. I'm gonna be Mrs. Jude Quincy...or Duteau. Crap what am I gonna be? _As if sensing her thoughts, the Priest turned to Jude and asked the biggest question ever, "Do you Jude Harrison, take this man, Thomas Duteau, to be your husband? To have and to hold, in richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" Jude glanced at the priest before returning to those eyes. Tommy smiled and Jude's heart melted. With all the strength she had she firmly said, "I do." Her smile growing bigger by the second.

She gazed lovingly into Tommy's eyes as the priest asked him the same question. He smiled back at her and simply said, "I...cant"

Jude felt distraught. Her heart sank. Every bone in her body ached as her heart broke into a million pieces. "Wh-Wh-What?" She finally stammered.

He looked at her, into her eyes and in all seriousness said, "Did you really think you could just fix things. After everything, after what you did?"

"What did I-" She stopped her question as memories flooded her mind. She had had Tommy, on one knee with a make shift ring in hand and she had said yes, only to break his heart days later when she took it back. The painful look Tommy had as she rode away from her home to her new life stung within; threatening to rip what was left of her heart to shreds.

"I..I..." Jude couldn't find the words no matter how hard she tried. She let her mind slip and unconsciously she found herself whispering, "I'm sorry."

Her head fell as tears ran down her cheeks. In the distance she could hear wedding bells. Someone else's wedding bells. They blared into her, each one digging deeper into her soul. This was it, her fate, she had had it all-the perfect ending, and she had thrown it away without a second thought. The bells rang louder and louder until her body jolted upright.

Jude Harrison found herself sitting straight up on her living room couch, her alarm blaring from her bedroom. She touched her face and found that the tears had escaped her dream. She wiped them off and went into the bathroom to wash the tear stains from her cheeks. As the cold water splashed her face, Jude tried to shake the dream.

It was a recurring dream, and it always left her in a daze for a good few hours. It had started her first week in London and made nightly appearances in her sleep. Slight details would be different each time-her dress, the flowers, Sadie's comforting words. But the one thing that never changed was Tommy's answer. "I can't" The words still stung and would continue to sting long after her dream. She wasn't sure what it all meant, she had been so sure in her decision to go off alone, but now doubt plagued her every thought.

"Ugh. Get a grip." She commanded herself. "It was just a dream, it didn't mean anything. You're fine. Seriously get a grip!" Jude sighed, wishing it were that easy.

She dried her face off and walked into her room to turn off the alarm-cringing as the memory of those wedding bells flooded over her. She glanced at the time as she fumbled with the buttons until the ringing finally stopped. 6 AM. She hadn't gotten home till one and now she had to go to work on little sleep, with bags under her eyes, and her sanity threatening to come crashing down any moment.

Right now Jude would give anything to be able to crawl under the covers and hide for the day. But no. Her new label and new producer were very big on punctuality.

_Tommy would have let me stay..._ Jude stopped herself before she could cause anymore pain. Her heart couldn't take it. And with that the daze set in. Jude mindlessly went through her day, she sang, she ate, she listened, she paced and at the end of it all, Jude couldn't remember anything specific that had happened. Her mind was still in the fog that her dream had brought in. Not allowing herself to explore that thought, she climbed into her car and focused harder than necessary on the road.

Jude once again opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside. Throwing the keys onto the table she slipped out of her shoes and headed for her room. She grabbed her pajamas and tried to focus on getting ready for bed. But no such luck. Her mind, as much as she tried to stop it, always found its way back to Tommy. To his face. The face in her dream, so happy and then so hurtful. And then to his face when they first got engaged, over the moon happy and then absolutely crushed when she told him, or rather her audience, that she had to go to London alone. For what Jude had done to him, she deserved to be left at the alter. She deserved everything Dream Tommy had said and he most certainly deserved better.

Once Jude had done everything she possibly could to get ready for bed, she found herself oddly awake. She wandered out into her living room, clicked on the TV and reached for her laptop.

Just as she had done practically every week since arriving, Jude searched the American tabloids for anything resembling her past life. Typically she found a few snippets about World Instant Star, and in turn the brains behind the show-Sadie Harrison. But today Jude didn't see Sadie, she didn't see mention of Instant Star, she only saw his face and his eyes staring back at her. Frozen in place, Jude stared at the headline that read, "Mrs. Little Tommy Q.?"

Once her breathing was restored and her heart started beating again, she took a deep breath and began reading.

_Ex-boybander Tommy Q., of boyz attack, allegedly popped the question on Saturday to his recent girl friend Sasha McNeal. Only two months after his rumored engagement to former girl friend, Jude Harrison, was broken off Tom Quincy seems to have 'picked up the pieces' and moved on. _

"He moved on." Jude mumbled. The thought practically made the world spin. "I said no so he found someone who would say yes. He moved on." The world was defiantly spinning now as Jude reached for the nearest pillow and hugged it to her chest for dear life as tears flowed down her face. The tears dropped onto the pillow, leaving dark circles that resembled her heart, as Jude began to sob.

Swallowing her cry, Jude's sob became mere sad hiccups, making her body tremor with every one. She read the rest of the article as it dished about their dating, and her acting career and his music. She slammed her laptop shut and stared at the TV for what felt like forever; not actually watching just trying desperately to loose herself in the lives of the fictional characters.

She sat like that, just staring, watching but not seeing until she was suddenly pulled to reality and was able to focus on the TV. She turned up the volume of Gilmore Girls, as Lorelai sang her heart out at a karaoke bar. The sad turn her voice took had Jude intently watching. Lorelai's eyes followed as Luke Danes, her former fiancé, entered the room. And suddenly the song was to him. "Bitter-sweet memories, that's all I'm taking with me. So goodbye, please don't cry. We both know I'm not what you need. And I will always love you. I will always love you." The song continued and Jude found herself crying again. It shocked her how much she connected to that moment, to that song, to the tone in Lorelai's voice. It was entirely her. With a final "I will always love you" the song ended and Jude was left there in the silence of her thoughts. How she longed for Tommy, to be able to say that to him, to explain to him, to say sorry. Not letting herself think any further, for fear of coming to her senses, Jude opened her laptop once more and began to write.

An email was the not the best solution, but it was all she could handle at the moment. She paused for a moment, contemplating the wording and finally started to type out everything she held inside.

_Dear Tommy,_

The words I need to say don't exist so I'll have to go with the next best thing. I'm sorry. I really and truly, completely am sorry. I..I..Well I'm not sure what I was exactly thinking. But I know now that what I did was wrong. I handled it all wrong. We should've talked, I should have talked but instead I left. You meant the world to me and I just want you to be happy. Congratulations on your engagement. You deserve the best life.

_With all my love._

_Jude_

She looked over the email, pausing on the word 'engagement'. She wanted to delete it, to put "don't do it" or "I love you". But she understood this was the right thing to do.

She pushed the mouse over to the send button and was about to click, when she glanced once more at the TV she had paused and at Luke and Lorelai's faces as they stared at each other. She backed off the send button and instead attached a file.

As she stared at the song that waited to be sent, she took a deep breath and made the subject match the attachment.

_I will always love you.  
_

And with that she finally hit send.

**So just a sidenote- if you don't watch Gilmore Girls you can see the scene I described on youtube. **

**Just search "Gilmore Girls I will always love you" the first few are really good.**

**(Sorry, I tried, but it wouldn't let me post the link)**


	2. Does It Hurt When You Think About Me?

A/N: Here's another chapter. Please comment! Oh and the title is from the song Empty Apartments by Yellowcard.

Oh and I know in the show Kwest quit G-Major, but I didn't really think about that when I wrote this, and trying to find a way to have him always around otherwise would have been too hard. So lets just say that he quit and then like 2 weeks later Sadie came to him and told him nothing was going on with her and Darius and that he should go back to what he loved doing. He goes back and Sadie and him slowly start to reconnect. Everyone okay with that?

**Chapter Two: Does It Hurt When You Think About Me?**

"Hey Tom." Kwest said as his friend entered the studio.

"Hey, so...What's new?" Tommy asked

"New? What do you mean?" Kwest teased

"Oh c'mon man! I know you and Sadie left here pretty chummy yesterday. So...what's new?"

"Nothing man. We ate, we talked, I walked her home. That's it."

"That's it?" Tommy said, not convinced. "Uh huh...right"

"I did kiss her goodnight, but that's not new...exactly." Kwest said, a smile playing on his lips

Tommy just kicked his chair, sending Kwest rolling toward the door, before adding, "'You think you're so funny...anyways that's great man, I'm really happy for you, you guys finally seem to be back."

"Thanks. Yeah. It' not official or anything yet, but we're getting there. You're looking pretty happy these days too. I mean after what happened with...well what happened two months ago, I never would have thought you'd be this happy, this in love. Little Tommy Q. gettin' married, who would've thought?" Kwest chuckled as he said the last part.

"Yeah..yeah." Tommy said, as he pulled his laptop out of his bag and set it up on the counter in front of him.

Kwest picked up a tabloid someone had left and began scanning the pages as Tommy clicked away on his computer.

Tommy, in an effort to avoid work, went straight to his email. But what he found wasn't exactly the distraction he was looking for.

Kwest laughed and kept his eyes on the tabloid while he chuckled, "Hey Tom, you've got to see this."

No response came  
"Tom?..Tom?"

After yet another failed attempt, Kwest finally looked up from his magazine and glanced at his best friend. Tommy stood there, frozen, face contorted to show both fear and shock. Seeing his friend this way made Kwest uneasy, so he set out to put an end to it.

"Yo. Tom!" Kwest said louder, wheeling his chair from its new position by the door back to the soundboard next to Tommy.

Kwest stared at his friend, concerned and confused. He put a hand on his shoulder, hoping the physical contact would snap him out of what ever daze he was in. It wasn't a total success, but progress was made.

"Jude" Tommy finally stammered out.

Kwest's eyes went wide as he leaned over his friend's shoulder and saw Jude's email, unopened with the words "I Will Always Love You" in the subject line. After he finally came back to reality, he focused on his friend.

"Tom. You okay man?"

"Jude. It's Jude." was all he could say

"I know man. You gonna open it?" He asked generally concerned for his friends well being.

Getting past Jude's departure hadn't been easy, but Tommy had gotten through it, started dating again and found a girl he could spend his life with. And now one email threatened to ruin it all.

"I--I--I don't know if I can." Tommy said, answering Kwest's question.

"Well..." was Kwest's totally unhelpful response

"But I don't know if I can't." Tommy finally realized.

"I say open it. What's the worst that can happen? And at least this way you'll know what it says."

Tommy nodded and slowly and with great hesitation, double clicked on the email.

Kwest sat watching at Tommy read the email. Analyzing his friends face, trying to figure out what to expect.

"Engaged." Tommy's words snapped Kwest out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"She said, 'Congratulations on your engagement'. How did she know?"

Kwest finally remembered what he had wanted to show Tommy. He flipped back open to that page and plopped it down in front of them. "I think this is how."

Tommy stared, his face totally blank, at the tabloid spread that dished about his 'alleged' proposal. He didn't know what to think.

--

Jude paced back and forth in her living room. Her computer sitting happily on the couch. She walked over to it but then made herself walk away. She wanted so badly to check her email, to see if Tommy had replied but couldn't stand the heart break she knew she'd face if he hadn't. And after checking it 12 times in the last hour and at least 30 times since she sent it two days ago, she wasn't sure how much more she could take. Finally she took a deep breath and walked back into her room. _Out of sight, out of mind. Right?_

She found herself thinking, and she couldn't help but think that this plan was flawed. Because now, even as walls and doors separated her from her laptop, she thought of it more than ever. Straining to hear, just in case it 'binged'-signifying a new email. "Ugh. This is torture, and pathetic and I'm done."

She stood and was just about to leave when she heard that sweet, simple and long-awaited 'bing' fill the apartment. She practically dove onto the laptop and ripped it open. Once the screen was upright, she clicked on her email and there it was- her kryptonite, her Tommy and his email.

Jude hesitated, much as Tommy had, debating whether it would hurt or help. Did he hate her? She knew she deserved it, but that doesn't mean she could bear it. The mere idea sent shivers down her spine as she once again saw Tommy's crushed face as she drove away that final time. She closed her eyes tighter than they should ever go and pulled a picture of Tommy from her memory. This was a different Tommy. A happier Tommy, the Tommy she had fallen in love with.

With his happy face behind her eyes, she took a deep breath and opened the letter.

_Jude,_

_Thanks for the email. It means a lot._

_Tom_

"That's it?!" Jude found herself screaming. "Seriously? What the crap!? I pour my heart out to him and I get a simple, generic one sentence back? UGH!"

She took a deep breath and tried to remember what she had put him through, telling herself to cut him a break. But no matter what she said, some part inside of her was angry, hurt and alone. And only one thing could fix it.


	3. Back to the Disaster

The newest chapter! It was one of my favorites to write so far! Enjoy!

And please COMMENT!!

**Chapter 3: Back to the Disaster**

"Would you like a drink?" A young flight attendant named Julia asked.

"No, thank you. I'm fine." Jude responded, not too convincingly.

Julia was far from convinced, and since the plane was relatively empty. She sat down across the aisle from Jude and looked at her, with one eye brow raised in a look that said, 'We both know you're lying, so you might as well just tell me.'

Jude caught a glimpse of the look she was being given and took a deep breath before finally turning to face Julia and starting her story.

--

"And then he only says 'Thanks for the email. It meant a lot'? UGH!" Jude ranted

Julia nodded and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off my Jude's sudden out burst.  
"What does that even mean? 'It meant a lot'. A chocolate bar means a lot to me but so does my family, those I love, a nice car, a sandwich, all of it. So which one am I? What kind of 'meant something' is this? UGH!"

Julie paused momentarily to collect her thoughts then said, "What do you want it to mean?"

"Oh I don't know." Jude admitted sheepishly, "I mean I love him, I do. Always have, always will. But is that enough? Sure I love him, but am I that in love. I mean I had a future. marriage. kids. the works. And I threw it away, and I can't decide if it was the right choice." Jude groaned a frustrated groan before adding "Men, they make everything so hard."

"No," Julia corrected, "Love makes it hard, men...men make it worth it."

Julia smiled and oddly enough Jude couldn't help but think that that had made sense.

"And about this whole 'in love enough' debacle. Look around. You're in a plane flying across the ocean to see a guy, just because his email was vague. Yeah, I'd say you love him enough."

Jude thought about that a moment, then smiled at the idea.

"Oh and one more thing," Julia added, "There's no point to fame unless you have someone to share it with. Just keep that in mind. Some of the loneliest places can be in big crowds."

Jude nodded, her face full of seriousness now. She had big decisions to make in the next few hours, and it wasn't going to be easy.

--

The plane landed, and Jude waved a final thank you to Julia and walked into the airport.

Jude moved out of the way of the passengers behind her, before setting down her bags and scanning the crowd. She was practically mauled, as a very blonde girl tackled her in a hug.

When Jude could finally breathe again she greeted, "Hey Sades."

Sadie Harrison let her baby sister out of the hug and helped her with her bags.

"So how was London? Everything you'd hoped for?" Sadie asked.

"It was good. I wouldn't say it's what I'd hoped for, but it was good."

Sadie looked down at her sister. She could see the worry lines creasing across her fore head the way it only did when Jude was stressing over something monumentally huge. She contemplated pushing it forward, but ultimately decided not to. Jude had had a long flight and this talk could wait.

--

Tommy entered his kitchen from the living room and looked around for the coffee he had made. He was only a few sips in when the door bell rang. The loud bells that consequently echoed through the house caused Tommy to jump and spill coffee all down his shirt. With a sigh and an angry grumble, he set down the coffee and headed to the door, as someone began to knock for the third time.

He swung it open and yelled, "What is your dea-". His words fell dead at the sight in front of him. Jude. His Jude. His almost wife. His. He shook his head, banishing the thoughts. She wasn't his, and she had made that very clear.

"Hi." was all she could manage.


	4. It Only Gets Harder the More You Know

A/N: The title is from the song Empty Apartments by Yellowcard

PLEASE COMMENT!

**Chapter 4: It Only Gets Harder the More That You Know**

Jude sat there, unsure of what to say or do. She wasn't even sure how she had gotten there. It seemed like it was a different person who bought the tickets, and made the arrangements but sure enough, as she lived and breathed, she was standing face to face with Tommy.

"I-I..." He stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. The way he said it make Jude's dream flash over her. She cringed at the thought of him telling her off. _This was definitely a bad idea. _She thought.

"I..I..Wh-Wha.." Tommy continued, finally forming a thought into words, "What are you doing here Jude?"

"I..I..well." Now it was her turn to stammer to get all jumbled. "I-I was visiting Sadie and thought I'd see how you were doing." She lied through her teeth. They both knew she was there for him, it was clear in the way she looked at him, but neither person was about to admit it.

"Well, I'm great." Tommy said, emphasizing each word.

Jude looked down at her feet. _Definitely a bad idea._ She took a deep breath, looked into his blue eyes and began, "Well I just wanted to say...that I..I..." She had a hard time getting the last part out. With another deep breath, she forced her thoughts out. "I'm sorry."

Tears pooled in her eyes as she glanced around. Her eyes finally resting on his, trying to read his thoughts. He was frozen, his face expressionless, but his eyes told her everything. He was hurt, still hurt, and she felt awful.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Jude offered. "I'll just go. Sorry to...well just sorry."

Jude turned to leave, glancing once more at his face when she reached the sidewalk. With yet another deep breath she turned, and began to walk away from his house.

"Jude." She spun around at the sound of her name.  
Tommy was standing on the sidewalk in front of his house, staring at her. "Thanks."

She smiled back at him, holding her tears in and kept walking.

--

"And where were you?" Sadie asked as Jude walked in the front door.

"I was...I was.." She couldn't think of a good lie. "I was out."

Sadie was clearly unconvinced. "Uh huh."

"Yeah." Jude turned to walk up the stairs.

She was only a few steps up, when Sadie asked, "So how was Tommy?"

Jude couldn't take anymore. The tears escaped and fell down her face and with them, her balance. Slipping on the stair she fell on her butt a few steps down, and made no motion to get up.

Sadie placed a hand on her shoulder before pulling her into a hug. They sat like that for a while, Jude sobbing while Sadie whispered soothing words.


	5. I Feel Like I'm Inside Out

**A/N**: Hey! So this chapter was fun. I just wanted to say thanks for all of the reviews. Seriously! It's been amazing. I'm so glad you all like it. So this story is dedicated to all my reviewers, but specifically leytonfan30 and Smartchic, who reviewed first. Love you all! Enjoy the chapter! Also, just f.y.i. the chapter title is from the song Inside Out by Yellowcard.

**Chapter 5: I Feel Like I'm Inside Out, You've Got Me Upside Down**

Jude let out a large hiccup…leftovers from the recent crying. Sadie sat back down on the couch and rubbed her sisters back. Jude was exhausted. Ever since her break down, she had spent the past two hours switching between crying, talking and listening.

Sadie had been trying her hardest to find the right words to comfort Jude, but it wasn't easy. After hearing the whole story behind her return, Sadie suddenly felt very sad for her younger sister, and a sudden need to punch Quincy in the arm. Okay so it wasn't his fault, but anyone that made her sister cry this much had it coming.

Between Jude's sobs she gave nonsensical rants (Sadie was sure there were real words in there somewhere, but most of them were lost in Jude's blubbering). The only thing she could understand was, "I……and then he….and meant something?...and then sorry…..wedding…….thanks." Thankfully once Jude calmed down and was able to give Sadie the full story, she was able to make meaning out of those words.

"I know honey." Sadie said again, as she rubbed Jude's back, and Jude said how sorry she was once again. "I know...and he does too. Trust me."

"But you didn't see his face, his eyes. He was so hurt, so…so….betrayed. I made him that way; I made his eyes that way. I hurt him. I broke Tom Quincy."

"Oh you did not break Tom Quincy. He's engaged." Sadie regretted the words as soon as she spoke them.

"I know." Jude sobbed.

"Oh Jude, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like that." Sadie apologized.

"No, you're right. He's moved on. He doesn't care anymore."

"He cares. Sweetie you know he cares. You said so yourself, that you could see it in his eyes."

"Not helping!" Jude cringed and began to cry harder, the picture of his hurt filled eyes filling her mind.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Instead she pulled her younger sister in yet another hug, and stroked her back while Jude sobbed into her shoulder. This was going to take a while.

--

"Man, you look like crap." Kwest said, as he walked into studio C the next morning.

"I didn't sleep much." Kwest was right, Tommy was a mess. His hair was all disheveled, which it almost never was, he had dark circles under his eyes and-from what Kwest could tell-he hadn't yet had his coffee. Yup, something was definitely up.

"Alright, lay it on me." Kwest said, with a sigh and a concerned tone.

"Jude. She….." Tommy paused, his face drifted off as he was lost in a memory.

"Oh" was all Kwest could squeak out as he braced himself for what was to come.

A moment later Tommy continued. "She stopped by."

"She's here?" Kwest practically leapt out of his seat at the revelation. His mind going crazy over what this would mean. He had had to watch his best friend hit rock bottom and slowly pick himself up. And now, finally when his life was better and getting on track, Jude had to come back. _This can't be good, _he thought, before saying, "and she stopped by?"

"Yeah" Tommy groaned as he laid his head on his arms that were folded on the soundboard.

"That must have been….well hard, I guess."

"Thanks for stating the obvious."

Kwest didn't take Tommy's grumblings too seriously, especially when he was in this kind of mood. He just sat back and waited for Tommy to tell the rest of the story.  
When nothing happened, he decided to push the story along. "Why?"

"I don't know. She said some crap about being here to see Sadie, and wanting to make sure I was okay. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed like she was holding back the real truth. I mean first the email, then this random visit? It just seems too much to be coincidence."

"And that's all she said? All she wanted? To make sure you were okay?" Kwest asked, sensing there was more.

"Sorry." Tommy paused, "She wanted to say 'sorry'."

Kwest was shocked, and weirdly enough pleasantly surprised. He had liked Jude, saw her as an almost sister, but he didn't like the London Jude. The Jude that ditched her old life for fame; the girl who had torn his friend apart. But this, this sounded like his Jude. The Jude he knew and loved; and despite himself, he couldn't help but be happy that _she _had been the one to return. "What did you say?" Kwest found himself wondering out loud.

"Thanks" Tommy said quietly, almost embarrassed by his response. Here he was, the girl he had always loved saying what he had yearned to hear since she left, and now he didn't know what to do. "What do I do man?"

"What do you want to do?"

Tommy's head fell as he let out another frustrated grunt. "I don't know. I mean I love Sasha, she's great. And _she_ said yes. But…but, man. Just seeing her took my breath away."

"Yeah, Sasha has that effect." Kwest responded, knowing full well what Tommy had meant but making him say it.

"No…" Tommy groaned, "Jude."

They both sat there in silence for a long time, before Darius poked his head in and looked around. "Man, who died?"

Neither man broke their deep glares on the floor at the sound of Darius's words. They just continued to sit there in silence until Darius finally gave up and walked away. Mumbling something about them being a bunch of girls.

A small smile spread across Kwest's face at Darius's take on the situation. He looked up to see the same on Tommy's face. They broke out laughing for a good few minutes. Once he had caught his breath, Kwest asked, "So…what are we gonna do?"

"We?"

"Yeah, we. Listen T you're my best friend, so we're in this together. Hey, you want me to talk to Sadie for you about Jude? Find out the details before we go any further?"

Tommy paused at the thought, "Yeah. Um…yeah."

Kwest stood up to leave-much to Tommy's surprise.

"Now?" Tommy asked.

"Well, yeah. Sadie and I have a lunch date. I mean, I could call her tonight and ask, but this date just seemed so much more convenient." A smile spread across his face at the word date. He winked at his friend and left the room.

--

Tommy was still sitting in the studio when Kwest returned.

"Man, did you even move?" Kwest asked, half astonished, half teasing.

"Shut up. And Yes, I did. I got my coffee." Tommy said, raising his coffee mug off the soundboard. "So...how did it go?"

"And by how did it go, you mean 'what did you find out?', right?"

Tommy just smiled a half smile and shrugged. Signifying a 'yes'.

"Well, Sadie didn't tell it all, but from what she reluctantly shared-Jude is visiting for a while. Apparently she made a deal with her record label to do some promotional stuff here so that she could visit some old, and I quote, 'friends'." Kwest said, making air quotes around the last word.

Tommy didn't know what to think. "Anything else?"

"She's here for two months. She's staying with Sadie at their house, Sadie made plans to stay and take her vacation time from Instant Star to be with her. And they have basically just been holding up in the house."

"Did she mention-" Tommy began before Kwest cut him off, knowing full well what he was asking.

"Yeah." He stopped himself, wondering if he should reveal the next part, but finally deciding to go ahead. "She…well after she saw you apparently she just broke apart. Cried for hours, something about an email and 'meant something', I don't know Sadie didn't tell the whole story."

"Oh." Was all Tommy could get out. He hated to see Jude hurt, especially when it was because of him. "Great" He finally grumbled.

**A/N: Ha! Darius is so my favorite part of this. 'Bunch of girls'. I couldn't help but the laugh at that. Let me know what you all think…leave reviews!**


	6. The Two of Us We Dream Like One

**A/N**: Hey! This chapter is really involved. 10 whole pages! I guess I kinda like you guys. I actually originally had this chapter and chapter 5 and one big chapter that I wrote one night. Midnight to five am. Best five hours ever! Movies, writing, no sleeping, such fun! And the sad thing is that I'm not kidding But anyways, I thought it would overwhelm you all, so I split it up. I really had fun writing this, so I really hope you like it. Happy reading! Please comment! You're reviews always make my day!

Oh and btw this chapter's title is from (yet again) Inside Out by Yellowcard. I don't know what it is, but there is something about their lyrics that I can really relate this story to. Totally recommend listening to them, and all the songs I list for my chapter names for that matter.

Once again,

Happy Reading!

**Chapter 6: The Two of Us…We Dream Like One**

When Sadie returned home from her date, she found Jude sitting on the couch in her pajamas, TV on and laptop open. Glancing over everything, she realized the TV was on some celebrity gossip channel and her laptop was on a celebrity gossip site.

"What are you doing?" Sadie asked, every word dripping concern.

Jude didn't have a good explanation; even she didn't know why she was doing this to herself. Or why she insisted on knowing everything she could about his new relationship. But, regardless of the lack of reason, she couldn't help but look.

Sadie reached forward turned off the TV and turned to Jude, shutting her laptop before pulling her younger sister up. "No." She looked into her eyes. "No more. This won't help." She said motioning to the TV and computer.

Jude bit her bottom lip and looked down. "Yeah, I know."

Sadie thought for a minute and looked up at the calendar on the wall. She shifted her look to Jude, and idea forming in her mind. With excitement brimming over her features, she practically commanded, "Go get dressed. Pick out a really cute outfit, but make it classy."

Before Jude could question or object, she was being pushed toward her room.

--

"Where are we going?" Jude asked.

They had been driving for five minutes, and Jude had no idea where her sister was taking her.

"Well, I was thinking we'd go clubbing or shopping or something completely ordinary. But that was before I looked at the calendar. Guess what's tonight?"

Jude just gave her sister a blank stare and waited an answer.

"The Instant star finale for Canada! And guess where it's being held?" Sadie paused for dramatic effect, making a drum roll on the steering wheel. "Right here."

Jude just stared at her sister, not sure what to make of the situation. She looked around, as they pulled up in front of a large theater-much bigger that the one they had used to judge her season of instant star. "Can we get in?"

Sadie just scoffed before reminding her sister, "Did you forget who I am? I practically own this place."

When the car pulled up in front of the red carpet, Sadie hopped out, handed her keys to the valet and motioned for Jude to join her.

Quickly hopping out of the car, Jude was soon at her sister's side. They walked down the carpet together, as fans screamed their approval at seeing their old star. Jude had forgotten how much she loved her fans here, and how much they loved her.

Stopping for a few autographs and pictures along the way, they finally made it inside the theater, the security guards nodding to Sadie as they entered.

"Friends of yours?" Jude asked.

"I own this place, remember?" Sadie laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. That's right. My sister is just _so_ important." Jude said, emphasizing the sarcasm.

Sadie just laughed as they walked around the room, to where Sadie's seats were. They were really good seats, only a few rows up from center stage. "Pretty impressive" Jude observed.

"Thanks, they are the employee seats."

Jude froze at the word employee and the possibilities that came with it. "Employees? Sadie, please tell me he won't.."

Sadie looked up in shock at what Jude was thinking. _Oh crap, oh crap! _She kept repeating it in her mind. She took a quick scan of the room, before her eyes spotted what they feared. She gripped Jude's hand and looked at her apologetically as Kwest and Tommy walked down the row.

The two men were clearly oblivious to their presence, but Jude and Sadie knew that wouldn't last long.

Kwest sat down first-next to Sadie- and then Tommy next to him. It wasn't even all of a second before Kwest noticed his neighbor, his smile quickly disappeared, though, when he saw who Sadie had brought.

His eyes grew wider with every second, as he slowly turned Tommy and whispered, "I'm _so _sorry."

Tommy looked up surprised, and asked "For what?"

Kwest took a deep breath before nodding to the girls behind him.

Tommy's heart fell as he saw Jude sitting there, looking very uncomfortable but none the less beautiful. He instantly looked down and grumbled something under his breath.

Kwest was sure he didn't want to know what was being said.

A few very awkward, silent moments passed before Sadie finally broke the ice.

_She never was one for silence. _Jude thought, with an inward chuckle.

"So..what's new?" Sadie asked.

"New? Since lunch?" Kwest asked, clearly amused by Sadie's lack of small talk skills.

"Um..right. Well, I'd like to see you come up with a better topic of conversation." Sadie challenged.

"Won't be hard." Kwest teased

Sadie just looked at him, a look of doubt in her eyes. "Prove it."

--

As Sadie and Kwest had their 'small talk war', Jude sat silent in her seat, looking at her hands that sat, fidgeting, in her lap. _This is soo awkward. _She thought. _Should I say something? Should I compliment him, or wait for him to start? Ah! What should I do? What!? I hate this. In the old days, I would have already teased him for having to dress up, and for wearing a tie. Asking him why he didn't wear his Boyz Attack white suit? Ruffled his hair and then laughed as he freaked out over fixing it. Such a girl! _She thought with a chuckle. _Then, he would have seeked revenge, and tried to mess with my hair, but either Sadie or Portia would have quickly put an end to that. Ha! And with that, I would have won._ Jude smiled at the thought, and found herself glancing up at Tommy as she reminisced the old days. But quickly glancing away anytime she thought he might be about to look in her direction.

Tommy glanced at Jude from the corner of his eye. She quickly looked away and he knew she was thinking the same thing. _What am I doing? What should I do? Do I talk to her? Do I ignore her? Should I wait for her to talk or what? Is she smirking? What the heck is going on in her mind? _Tommy started to laugh in his mind, _She is. She's smirking! If this were the old days, I would have thought she was making fun of me internally. Maybe she is. Oh this is torture. _

"What are you smirking at?" Tommy looked up shocked to see his internal question verbalized. He looked down the row for the source. Kwest stared at Jude, a smile on his lips; clearly he was the one who had asked. Sadie turned around and joined in smiling at Jude, waiting an answer.

"Huh?" Jude looked up to see three pairs of curious eyes on her. Suddenly very self conscious, Jude sat up straight and asked, "What?"

"You were smiling. And for the life of me I can't figure out why. Care to share?" Sadie asked, looking at her sister amused.

Jude looked down for a moment, remembering what she was thinking, before returning her gaze to Sadie. "Well," she started with a laugh, "I was just thinking about how To-" Jude stopped, practically choking on the words as she remember the man sitting three seats down. "I was just thinking how to-morrow I need to take Jamie to that psychic we went to last year." _Ha, nice save. _Jude complimented herself.

Tommy looked troubled, he knew she was about to say his name. She was never good at lying and was even worse at coming up with a cover up on the spot. "I bet she was thinking about the white suits." Tommy looked up to see three people staring at him, shocked. _Oh crap! Did I just say that outloud?_ Kwest raised his eyebrows amused, and suppressed a laugh. _Yup. I did. Well that's one way to break the ice.  
_

"As a matter of fact," Jude said, "I was. Really, I think you should have worn that tonight." Jude seemed totally calm on the outside, but inside was a different story. _What am I doing? Is it okay that I say this? That we talk like this? As…..friends, or friend-ish people who have a giant elephant sitting between them. _She laughed again. _Ha. Had I said that outload, Tommy would have made a comment about how 'it's not nice to call your sister a giant elephant.' _She missed that Tommy.

"Well I would have, but I couldn't find it. You see I have this sneaking suspicion that a certain rock diva stole it and took it with her to London." Tommy had been fighting back laughter through out his comeback, but at the mention of London all four of them fell silent.

Jude sighed deeply, and apparently loudly, because Sadie leaned over and asked, "Everything okay over there?"

Jude leaned in and whispered, "Yeah, this is just really awkward. Help me?"

Sadie nodded, and smiled as she developed a plan

"Actually Tommy," Sadie paused for dramatic effect, biting her lip to play the part, "it was me."

Tommy and Kwest looked taken aback, while Jude smiled. She had always been impressed by Sadie's improv skills.

"Really?" Tommy asked, skeptically

"Oh yeah," Jude jumped in, "You know Sadie. She just can't resist Little Tommy Q. His eyes are so dreamy and his parachute pants are _just so shiny_." She added a valley-girl accent at this end, which left everyone crackin up.

They all laughed for a good few minutes. _This is nice. _Jude thought. _It feels like old times. Well, almost. _

Sadie and Kwest went back to their private conversation, little giggles and smiles making their way to Jude and Tommy. They both glanced at their giddy friends and then eachother, before once again bursting out laughing.

Sadie and Kwest glanced at them questioningly, but quickly went back to their conversation.

A few minutes later, the lights lowered and the host appeared on stage. Jude hadn't noticed it before, but the whole theater had been filled and was now consumed with screaming fans. The final contestants sang, each one singing a song by a former Instant Star.

Mike, a six-foot with shaggy blonde hair, sang a song by Milo. Jude cringed at the thought of Milo. Then laughed inwardly at the last time she had seen him. It was when she went to ask, or rather beg, Tommy to do that Japanese TV commercial with her and Milo had walked in. _I'm pretty sure I wasn't very nice, and may have called him a rather rude name. _Jude laughed, out loud this time, at the thought, but it was hidden by the fans. Jude looked around to see Tommy looking at her laughing. Apparently he hadn't missed her laugh.

Jude looked in his eyes and could tell he was remembering the same thing. Jude stretched out her arms, reenacting the moves she had done that day in the studio all decked out in black shiny pants for the commercial. She had 'danced'-if you can call it that-in front of Tommy. It was more of a martial arts attempt than dancing, but it worked. He had agreed.

He burst out laughing at Jude's movements and remembered that day as well. They smiled at each other, trying to stop their laughing fits, for a good few minutes. Once the song ended, Jude returned her gaze back to the stage, and Tommy did the same.

The next finalist, Shawn, sang one of Mason's songs. Jude smiled and happily swayed to the music, it was one of her favorites. She thought about Mason, her amazing friend that she hadn't talked to in forever. _Ooh. Okay, mental note: E-mail Mason when I get home. Send him Japanese commercial video. He'll get a kick out of that!_ Jude laughed as she pictured Mason's reaction to her commercial. _Yup, he'll defiantly laugh. _

Next was Lilah, a tall skinny brunette. She sang a Karma song. Jude didn't pay much attention to the song, _Why break tradition?_ She figured. Jude thought of Spiederman. He was one of the few people she had actually stayed in touch with while she was gone, so she knew he was happy. Karma and Spied had settled their lawsuit and Jude smiled, remembering the story she had been told, replaying the images in her mind. Darius grabbing Leonard by his ridiculous shirt and pushing him against the gold wall of his office, while wearing his karate outfit. Leonard had been so intimidated by Darius's legal talk and threats that Leonard had agreed to drop the law suit. _Gotta admit it, Darius, if anything, is good at getting his way._ Jude, once again found herself laughing. She had smiled more tonight, than in a long time. Probably, since she had left. _Ah, I've missed this place. _Jude sighed, but this time-it was filled with happiness.

Jude was so wrapped in her thoughts, that when she finally came back to reality Lilah was gone and a smaller, skinny and average height girl with plane straight hair stood in her place. Jude looked the girl over, surprised by how much the girl reminder her of how she had been when she first started out. _Naturally. _Jude thought as it was announced that she would be singing one her songs. _This should be interesting. _Jude thought, actually curious to see how it would go. She liked how this girl looked, she wasn't all made up or acting like she was all that when she was really sooo not, Jude smirked thinking of Milo for that last description, no, she was real. Jude sat forward in her seat and waited for the song to start, desperate to know what she was singing.

Jude's heart practically did a back flip followed by a summersault when first notes of "White Lines" played. She practically jumped out side of her seat, everything inside her was screaming. Not necessarily in rejection, but nothing in her was happy. She glanced at Tommy, afraid of what his reaction would be. He waited a moment before meeting her gaze. As this rather impressive girl belted out their love ballad with perfection, Jude and Tommy just stared at each other. Each lost in the other's eyes and the memories that filled them.

It was in this moment, and in his eyes, that Jude remembered her love for Tommy, the hugeness it held in her heart. It's epicness. Julia was right with what she had said on the plane, Jude did love him enough. But was it too late? Was he truly happy? There still was a small chance that the tabloids were wrong. She did recall them using the word 'allegadly'. So maybe… _Oh shut up Jude! _She stopped obsessing and instead lost all of her doubts in his eyes. She spent the rest of her song not worrying or obsessing, but instead pulling all of the love she had hidden in the back of her heart out. Feeling every last bit of it until it practically over whelmed her, looking to his eyes for strength. During those four minutes, Tommy and Jude never broke the lock their eyes had made. No hostilities or regrets between them, it was just them and their love. Jude knew that if it hadn't been for Sadie and Kwest separating them, she would have kissed him by now. But for now, this would do. Jude put all of her love on the table in that look and Tommy did the same.

The song ended and the crowd went wild. Sadie elbowed Jude and, with a big smile, motioned to the stage. Jude figured she was trying to give her props for her amazing song that had practically just won that girl the competition, but she didn't care, her only concern was the boy three seats down. Unfortunately, Sadie's bump had forced Jude to break their eye contact and when she looked back he was looking straight forward, an odd expression on his face.

Tommy was freaking out. His breathing was ragged and his heart was racing. _What was that!? _He practically screamed in his head. He was so confused, so conflicted. In that song everything had seemed so simple, so clear. He had seen Jude and only Jude, and that was enough to fill his whole world. But now that their song had ended, he was forced to deal with the real world; where the past and present and histories and feelings and all sorts of crap factored in. He hated this place. Longing to go back to her eyes, to their song, to their world, he glanced at Jude. But she was looking down, and she did not look well. Almost conflicted. He imagined she was feeling similar to him. Half of her would be screaming in happiness and the other half freaking out for what she had just let happen. _Now all we need to know is which half we're gonna listen to, _Tommy found himself thinking. He smiled at the fact that he had referred to them as a 'we'. It had been a while, and he had missed that. But just because he still loved her, no matter how hard he tried not too, he had stuff in his life now. Stuff she wasn't a part of, particularly a fiancé. Tommy cringed as he remembered Sasha. His whole world came shaking into reality. "Aw, crap." He mumbled.

When the world around him came into focus, all four contestants were once again on stage. The host was asking the judges questions about each performance. They first went over Mike's then Lilah's and finally ended on Taylor. They discussed her 'White Lines' performance and Tommy got excited as words like 'perfection' and 'amazing' and 'the performance of a life time' were used. This song deserved the best and he was glad that Taylor had given it that. Tommy glanced over at Jude and saw the biggest of smiles on her face, she was clearly pleased. And he was glad. _Stop that! _He told himself. He couldn't be caring if she was happy, he couldn't let himself feel like that, he wasn't available and thinking of her that way wasn't gonna help anything. He sighed. This was going to be hard.

In an effort to distract himself, he once more turned his attention to the stage.

Darius joined the host on stage for the big announcement. Tommy watched anxiously as four contestants held hands along with their breath and prayed. The host obnoxiously prolonged the unveiling by making his words really long, adding pauses and using way more words than necessary. "And…your…new…Canadian…in—sta—nt--staaarr…for..the..yeeaarr 2008, the one who willl go on to compete in the World Instant Star and who will receive a three year contract with G-major iiiissss……………" He threw in yet another long pause and Tommy suddenly had the urge to smack him. This guy was really pushin' it.

Tommy saw Jude rise from her seat, standing out in the completely seated crowd, clearly she was just as anxious as he was. Tommy followed her and soon the rest of the audience was on their feet, silent, staring at the stage. The host took a deep breath before looking at the card that displayed the winner. "Taylor Freedman!" Cheers erupted through out the theater as tears fell down Taylor's cheeks and she struggled with the balance. Clearly overwhelmed. She hugged Lilah, Mike and Shawn then moved across the stage to the host and Darius, wrapping them both in a hug. With the biggest smile on her face, she blew kisses to her family and mouthed "I love you." She thanked the judges and just stared out into the crowd, taking it all in.

She scanned the crowd, looking over all the faces, but she froze when her eyes met Jude's. Both girls stood frozen as they stared at each other, each with a giant smile. It wasn't long until everyone had followed her gaze and found Jude standing a few rows up from the stage. The cameras turned to her, everyone stared but Jude didn't care. She just stared at Taylor, trying to convey her gratitude with her eyes. It was once again Sadie who interrupted Jude's concentration by elbowing her. Jude glared at her and asked, "What?" Sadie just pointed to Darius, who was waving her up on stage, before giving her a push. Tommy couldn't help but laugh when she tripped while walking up there. That was Jude for you.

As Jude found her way on stage, she practically ran to Taylor and wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She yelled to be heard.

Taylor pulled back, confused. "For what?"

"For reminding what's important. You'll never know how much you singing that song meant to me. It saved me." She paused before adding, "Thank you."

Taylor just looked into her eyes, tears filling her own, and nodded before saying, "no, thank you."

Jude gave her a look that made her elaborate, "You're music got me here. You saved me once too."

They smiled at each other for a few more moments until Darius came over and placed a hand on both of their shoulders as they all looked out into the crowd. Jude grabbed Taylor's hand and squeezed it before leaning in and adding, "This is only the beginning..trust me" If it was possible, Taylor's grin grew bigger and Jude raised her arm in the air. The crowd continued to go wild as Jude pulled away, walked to the host, took his microphone (much to his surprise) and handed it to Taylor. "Sing your heart out. This is your time." Jude leaned in for one more hug before pushing her forward and walking off the stage.

As Taylor sang her final song of the evening, Jude walked back to her seat, a permanent smile on her face. When she got back Sadie pulled her into a hug and as she pulled out of it she caught a glimpse of Tommy. He too had the biggest, proudest smile on his face as they once again locked eyes, this time only for a moment. But for now, that moment was enough.

--

After they had said their goodbyes and split ways, Kwest and Tommy walked down the street toward a restaurant. They had parked the Viper a block away and were now surveying their options.

"So that was…interesting." Kwest commented

"Yeah, um...interesting…sure." Tommy replied.

"What? Is that sarcasm I hear?"

"I just don't think interesting covers it. I don't think any words can cover it. Tonight was just so…so…" Tommy stopped, at a loss for words. Thankfully, Kwest knew what he meant.

"Yeah, I saw the look."

"What look?" Tommy asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"_The _look. The Jude Look."

"Oh." Tommy glanced down at his feet. "Crap."

"Yeah, I'd say so. So what does this mean?"

"Heck if I know, I didn't mean for this to happen, but I mean, really? White Lines? C'mon. That was completely unfair. And then she looked at me, and our eyes locked and I just couldn't stop. When I looked in her eyes every bit of that love I had put away floated to the surface. Man, it sure is a good thing you were between us, cause I think I would have given in to the moment on several occasions. At one point, I even considered just pushing you out of the way and going for it."

Kwest looked amused, "Really? And just where would I have gone?"

"Into the row behind us, you would have smacked into those label suits and then Sadie would have gone into the teenage girls in front of us." Tommy stated mater of factly.

The two just laughed for a moment before their distraction wore off and the seriousness set back in.

"So, what are you going to do?" Kwest asked.

"I'm not sure. Because I know that I still love her, but along with all that love goes a heck of a lot of pain." Tommy admitted

"I guess you just have to figure out what's more important-the love or the pain? Which wins out?"

"Ugh." _I wish it were that easy_, he thought.

**A/N: I referenced two episodes in this chapter, the Milo memory involving the martial arts dancing is from episode 4x11. You can watch it on the-n . com/theclick (of coarse, with no spaces, it just wouldn't let my type it in otherwise)**

**And the White Lines moment if you hadn't seen it (Shocked!) or if you just want to watch it again (who wouldn't?) you can see that moment on YouTube just search "Instant Star 2x12" then select one the one by 'milofan101'. It's one of the first ones. I posted it just for you guys! Well, you and my bff who hasn't seen the show. I know-blasphemy! But I'm converting her. Alright, now that I've covered it all-please please go review! I love your reviews! I live for them! Well them and bagels. But still. **


	7. Holding On to Feel the Same

**A/N: So I know I pretty much suck for taking so long on this chapter, I've actually had this chapter done for a while now, but I've been hesitant about posting it. But after editing and reading it a thousand and one times I'm finally proud of it. So please read, review and let me know what you think. Specifics are always amazing and help me so much!**

**I'm going out of town till Wednesday but I'm taking my journal with me so I can write while I'm gone. I promise, to make up for my slackerness, the next chapter will be up by Wednesday night, Thursday morning at the latest. If it's not up by Thursday you can send out the search and rescue to look for me. :)**

**This chapter is dedicated to Rockergirluntil4ever. You're amazing ideas and review totally got me out of my writers block. So thanks! And thanks to everyone else who reviewed, you all give me motivation to write and help me with ideas! **

**Just fyi, this chapters name is from the song Memory by Sugarcult.**

**All right, now..Happy reading!**

**Chapter 7: Holding On to Feel the Same**

Jude yawned, and shrugged off her dream. She had had that one with the wedding again; it didn't seem to be going away. As she slumped her way downstairs she found Sadie sitting at the kitchen counter drinking her coffee and reading the tabloids. When Jude entered, Sadie glanced up, smiled and returned to reading.

"Good morning to you too." Jude said sarcastically.

"Oh I'm sorry," Sadie responded, with just as much sarcasm, "did you want a parade with 16 trombones to welcome you into the waking world?"

Jude rolled her eyes, and Sadie smiled. She had missed her little sister, she loved having someone to bicker with, light heartily of coarse.

Jude would never admit it, but she too had missed this; Sadie's harsh remarks given with a smile, their morning bickering, it was home. Jude returned the smile and poured her own coffee. She downed it quickly and returned to the coffee pot to pour herself another.

"You okay there?" Sadie asked, she had clearly noticed Jude's quick refill.

"Yeah. Rough night."

"Really? I would have thought bumping into your ex and sharing a very heart felt, and rather awkward, moment over a song would have been very relaxing."

Jude sighed, "Lay off the sarcasm already." Jude looked at her sister, seriousness filling her features, causing Sadie to stiffen. "Yeah, that was hard and weird and apparently noticeable." She raised her eyebrows at her sister. "So were you just watching me like a hawk or did we really scream for that much attention?"

Sadie paused, "Well, I was watching you more than others, simply because I am your older sister and it is my job, but when ever you and Tommy share one of your _looks, _the whole world tends to notice. I mean, all that tension is kind of hard to miss." She paused again, thinking. "So..What was that about anyways?"

Jude hesitated, picking her words carefully. "I really don't know. It's just that song. It's _our _song. And it just caught me, well us, off guard. And the next thing I knew, we were staring into each others eyes and every emotion I had put away came flying back into my face and there it was. If you were to ask me then, I would have told you how much I loved him and that nothing could stand in my way, but after the song...his face...it was so conflicted. And that brought Sasha back into the picture, and I just don't think I can cause someone else that kind of pain. Especially when I'm the reason we aren't together. You know?"

"Yeah, I know. But, Jude, this is Tommy. I learned long ago that nothing could keep you apart. Jamie couldn't, I couldn't, Spiederman couldn't, his mistakes couldn't and neither can yours."

Jude gave a half-smile at this thought. It was true, no matter what had happened, they always found their way back to each other. But that was then, when nothing big stood in the way; when it was only them and their problems it had always worked, but now there was a new girl, and she wasn't just some chick he picked up, she was his fiancé and that added all sorts of distance between their relationship. They had never had this much between them and she wasn't sure it was possible to find away around it.

Sadie was about to add something else, but decided against it. Feeling her point had been made, she left her sister to think and ran upstairs to get ready.

--

Forty minutes later, Sadie was running though the house yelling how late she was for her date and how lost her keys were. Jude looked up from her guitar and journal-which was still empty-and grabbed Sadie's keys from the coffee table tossing them to her panicked sister. Sadie quickly thanked her and ran out of the house.

A few minutes later, Jude heard a knocking at the door. She ran to the door and swung it open, "Man Sadie, did you forget your house key too?" Jude had been laughing but when the door fully opened she stopped. _Tommy._

He smirked, "Well, it's not the first time I've been called a girl." They both sat silent for a minute, Jude in shock and Tommy reminiscing over all the times Jude had called him a girl for his hair products and clean and 'manicured' appearance. She really enjoyed calling him a girl. Or at least she used to. Tommy had found himself thinking of the past a lot lately, and it scared him. He couldn't think about her, he couldn't like thinking about her, it would only cause problems. And yet he couldn't not think about her. She was Jude after all.

"Hey." Jude squeaked out, quietly. _Is this what Tommy felt like when I showed up at his door? _Jude thought, then inwardly laughed, _Well at least I don't have coffee down my shirt._

"Hey. So, last night..." He paused, "Last night, it showed me something."

"Oh?" Jude asked, truly intrigued now but also terribly horrified at the possible rejection she faced.

"Yeah, it showed me we can't..."

_Be friends..._ Jude mentally finished, prepping herself for the tragedy she faced.

"We can't keep tiptoeing around each other as if you never came back. Cause you did. And now we have to deal with it."

"Deal with it how, exactly?" Jude was somewhat relieved he hadn't said they couldn't see each other, but still feared what his solution was.

"Well, I was hoping...we could be friends?" He had meant it as a statement, but it came out as more of a question.

Jude was stunned. She had never expected this, not in a million years. Yes, she had hoped for it, but never expected it. After a moment Jude realized Tommy was squirming, waiting for her answer. _Oh crap. _Jude thought, as she realized she never answered him.

"Yes...yes of coarse." Jude said, her smile growing.

Tommy let out a sigh of relief. "Good." His smile grew too.

"So, what now?"

"Well, what do friends do?"

Jude thought for a moment, before her face lit up. "I have an idea. She grabbed her jacket off it's hook and slipped her shoes on.

"Let's go."

Jude was half way to his viper when she realized he wasn't behind her. Looking around she spotted him still standing on the porch looking amused. "Coming?" Jude asked, wondering what he thought was so funny, as Tommy started to laugh. "What?"

"Jude." He paused, regaining his composer, "Pajamas? Really?"

Jude looked down and gasped, realizing she was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a white tank top and dark blue flannel bottoms. "Right." She blushed, as she ran inside and up the stairs, yelling behind her, "Make your self comfortable."

Tommy walked in and shut the door behind him. He stood there for a moment, before walking into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and perused the contents. Finally settling on one of Sadie's breakfast burritos that she had obviously made for Jude.

"Hey Tomm-" Jude stopped short, half shocked and half amused. "Are you eating _my_ burrito?" She let out a chuckle.

"Well you did say make yourself comfortable. And I couldn't possibly be comfortable when I'm _sooo _hungry." He rubbed his stomach and pouted his lip for effect.

Jude rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Did you at least save me some?" Tommy held up a second burrito. "She made two."

Jude laughed and snatched it from his hands and popped it into the microwave. "Your just lucky its still early, otherwise I might have had to kick your butt, Quincy."

"Really? Well then I guess I am lucky, wouldn't want to anger little old Jude Harrison." He put his hands up in surrender and widened his eyes in mock fear. "Never"

They both just laughed and began eating.

--

A breakfast burrito and two coffees later, Jude now sat next to Tommy in the viper.

"Can't you just tell me where to go? I hate being given directions. Especially when I don't know the destination." Tommy whined, for the third time.

"Can't you just let me drive?" Jude matched him, whine for whine.

Tommy glanced at her, finally admitting defeat. "Fine. Whatever, don't tell me where we're going."

"Kay." Jude said, grinning contently. She loved having the power.

"Turn left here." She said, pointing to a street ahead. "Ooh! I love this song!" Jude cranked the radio and began to rock out.

Tommy couldn't help but laugh as he watched her. She was quite the site, playing air guitar, throwing in drums occasionally and singing along.

Noticing that she was being watched, Jude smacked Tommy's arm and insisted he sing along. "Oh c'mon you know you want to!"

Tommy finally gave in and began singing along. He played the drums on the steering wheel and sang back up while she played air guitar. They laughed until it hurt and sang until the song ended. Tommy hit one final drum beat to end the song and Jude clapped, clearly pleased. "Who knew 'lil Tommy Q was so instrumentally versatile.." She said, nudging him with her elbow. "I mean the drums? Really? Guitar maybe, maybe. But drums?"

Tommy acted offended, "Hey! I play guitar better than you! And I can do anything, I'm that amazing!"

"Clearly modest too."

"Oh, yeah. You know me."

"And just for the record, there is no way you play guitar better than me! I could school you any day!"

Tommy just scoffed. "Really?"

Jude nodded confidently.

"Prove it. After this mystery destination I'm declaring a guitar duel."

Jude laughed, "I'm sorry, did you just use the word 'duel'? What is this?"

Tommy just rolled his eyes, "Sure, make fun. You know your scared."

"Yeah. uh-huh. Sure."

They sat laughing for a minute longer, while Jude continued directing Tommy.

--

"This is where we're going? Your brilliant idea?" Tommy looked out the Viper's window at the arcade that sat across the street. It looked slightly run down and relatively empty.

"Yup. Sadie and I used to come here all the time when we were younger." Jude opened the car door and hopped out. Running across the street, motioning Tommy to join her. "Quincy, get your butt over here! You're gonna miss all the fun!"

Tommy opened his door, "Well we can't have that, can we?"

Jude just shook her head and watched as he ran to join her. They linked arms and walked in.

They spent the rest of the morning playing and bickering (with sarcasm, or coarse) and challenging each other to every game they found. By the time they left, Jude was holding a crown and Tommy a giant teddy bear, they had won with their tickets. Jude placed the crown on her head, declaring herself 'Queen of the Arcade'.

Tommy just scoffed, "More like drama queen." A smile spread on his lips as he caught a glimpse of Jude, her face offended but her eyes amused. She smacked his arm and they both laughed. "My apologies, your _majesty." _He bowed, causing Jude to laugh even harder, then handed her the teddy bear, "Consider this my apology." Jude just smiled and happily accepted it, but paused looking into his eyes, and it was there that she found the true love behind the gesture. Causing her to smile to go bigger.

"You know, now that I am Queen and all, I think I should drive."

Tommy just stared at her, jaw dropped and then looked at his Viper. "After your sixteenth birthday incident? Unlikely."

"It was one dog and I didn't even hit it. I stopped a good two feet away." Jude defended.

"Yeah, but there was also the jogger, the mailbox the sidewalk and the four stop signs that you narrowly missed. Like I said, unlikely."

Jude bowed her head slightly in defeat, stuck out her lip and put on her best puppy dog eyes.

Tommy looked away, knowing he couldn't resist those eyes, and shook his head while increasing his speed to the car. He got in and looked straight ahead, not giving Jude the chance to change his mind. But that didn't stop her from trying. "No." He said, serious. "No, no, no, no, no." His voice getting a little weaker with each 'no', his defenses falling. He had to start driving or he'd give in. Jude knew it was working. Tommy put the keys in the ignition and was about to turn when he heard Jude yell.

"What is that?" She pointed through his window and when he turned she snatched the keys out of the ignition, laughing evilly when he returned his gaze to her. She shook the keys in the air and proceeded to laugh. Tommy paused, then, with a small smile, stared into her eyes. Jude's biggest weakness. He put all his energy into that look and soon Jude was lost in it. He took the opportunity and snatched the keys back, leaving Jude shocked.

"Nice try Harrison. Now if I recall we have a duel to get to." He smiled and started the car.

Jude slumped down in her seat and stuck her lip out. "No fair."

Tommy just laughed and turned up the music. "Oh C'mon, I'll tell you what. If you win the guitar duel I'll let you drive it for a whole day. A solid 24 hours. Deal?"

Jude lit up immediately and shook the hand he held out. "Deal."

--

As they drove, Tommy looked at Jude, who was still clinging to the bear. "So this bear, it needs a name."

Jude looked up surprised, but highly amused. "Yes, yes it does. Alright, Mr. 'Im so good at everything', you name it."

"Well, we could name it after something random you love." He paused, and Jude waited, "Like Waffles."

"Hmm...Waffles. I like it. But I was thinking that since you won it, we should call him Little Q. and get him some parachute pants." Jude laughed, pretty proud of herself.

Tommy pretended to consider it, stroking his chin for effect, "Yes, I like it. Although, since you are queen and all, maybe we should name it after you. We could get it a star ring, or bracelet, and some designer jeans. Of coarse," he paused, "it won't have your beautiful eyes but it'll be close enough."

Jude stared at him, they had come to a red light and he was now staring into her eyes. _Beautiful? _Jude thought. All doubts left her mind as his eyes filled hers, this-in her mind-felt perfect. What Jude didn't know was that it felt that way to Tommy too. They slowly leaned closer, she could feel the kiss coming. They grew closer and closer together and were nearly together now. Jude closed her eyes and started to lean closer. Closer. She waited. She could feel his breath on her lips as he too grew closer. They moved the final distance and were just about to kiss when a loud noise forced them apart.

_HONK!_

Jude's eyes flew open, the light was now green and the car behind them was growing impatient. It honked again, this time bringing Tommy fully back to reality. He hit the gas, gripped the steering wheel, and stared straight forward. His mind going crazy.

_What was I thinking? I'm engaged! I can't be kissing Jude. Oh, kissing Jude. _

His mind paused on those words as the urge to kiss her filled his body. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel until his knuckles went white and focused entirely too hard on the road.

Jude finally found the courage to look at Tommy. Out of the corner of her eye she could see his troubled expression, his focused eyes and his knuckles growing whiter by the second. Clearly this had affected him too. Jude sighed quietly and leaned back, her grip tightening on the door handle, until her knuckles too were white. Being around him was going to be harder than she thought.

--

It was when they came to another stop light that Tommy finally broke the silence. "Where do you want to go?"

Jude looked up at him, his eyes still on the road, and thought over what the best option would be. _Maybe if I act like it didn't happen we can continue our friend day. A friend Tommy is better than no Tommy. _She considered it once more before answering with a smile, "Well I do believe we have a duel to get too."

Tommy glanced at her, surprised. He saw the look in her eyes and immediately knew her plan. _Act like it didn't happen, and we'll go on with our day. _He nodded, and smiled. "Why, yes, Queen Harrison I do believe we do. But before we get there, I do believe this bear needs a name. So we have it down to Waffles and Little Q. So I guess the question is-Is it a boy or a girl?"

Jude picked up the bear and examined it. Taking into account it's warm light brown fur and the spiked hair that poofed up between it's ears, she came to a conclusion. "It's definitely a boy. See it's spiked hair, he clearly uses hair gel, and it's light brown fur-he clearly has been outside a lot to get that kind of a tan. Lets see...hair gel and tan skin..who does that remind you of?" She pretended to be thinking while she looked at Tommy. "Hmmm.. I feel like the answer is right in front of me."

Tommy rolled his eyes, and she laughed. "Alright," he said, "Little Q. it is. But the next one is gonna be Waffles. I happen to like the name."

Jude looked up, surprised, "Next one?"

"Well yeah, I have to win back the title of 'King of the Arcade'." He said matter-of-factly. He raised his eye brows and laughed, "Unless you think you can defend it?"

Jude laughed at the challenge, "Fine. But be warned Quincy, I never loose."

Tommy once again laughed, and pointed to G-Major, "Well get use to it Harrison, cause your about to start loosing now."

Jude was thrown off, she hadn't even noticed it when they'd parked in front of her old label. She didn't know how she felt about going in and hesitated greatly before opening her car door, as memories of a failed album and the end of her contract came flooding back

Tommy noticed her hesitation and opened her door for her, he leaned down and crouched in front of her. "It'll be fine. Trust me. Just remember the fun, the late nights, the coffee, the sandwiches."

"Oh! The sandwiches. Is Kwest here?"

Tommy laughed, stood up and offered his hand to help her up. She took it and they began to walk in. "I see how it is, it's all about the food is it?"

"I'm sorry Tommy, but your nothing compared to Kwest's sandwiches. It's just the way it its." She nudged him with her elbow and shrugged. Laughing when he pretended to pout. They were both laughing when they finally made it through the doors.

Heads turned at the sound of the loud laughter, and people stood shocked at the source. Jude was looking at Tommy and he looked at her. Each making an effort to stop laughing, but the sight of the other's red face kept them going. When they finally calmed down, they noticed the looks they were being given.

"Sheesh, who died?" Jude asked.

No one made an effort to hide their shock or explain it. They just stood staring.

"I swear the way they're looking at us, you'd think they'd thought you'd died instead of just leaving the country." Tommy laughed.

"Lets go to studio B." Jude said, as she spotted its door above all the shocked employees. "Away from the shock and awe. I think they need a minute to recover."

They both laughed as they walked into the studio. Tommy grabbed two acoustic guitars and gave Jude her pick. They got comfortable in the chairs and tuned each one.

Once they were both ready, Tommy lowered his voice so that it seemed more serious-even though laughter still seeped in. "Let the duel begin." He nodded to Jude to begin.

She played a series of chords and then nodded to Tommy. He replayed it to perfection and then played his own series of notes. It went on like that for quite some time. Nothing less than perfection from each person. After a half an hour it stood at a tie.

Their fingers ached and their throats hurt from the laughing.

"What do you say we take a break, get a drink and let our fingers recover."

Tommy happily accepted Jude's suggestion and stood to get them some drinks. All right, be right back.

When Tommy returned with two coffees in hand, he spotted Jude leaning over her journal with a pen in hand and a scowl on her face.

"I swear girl, do you ever leave home with out that thing?"

Jude jumped at the sound of his voice, she had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard him enter the room. "Well," she blushed and lowered her head, "I've had writers block and couldn't risk getting inspired and not having it."

"Jude Harrison has writers block? I never thought I'd see the day."

"Hey. I've had it before, it's just you've always-"

Tommy nodded, he'd always been the one to pull her out of it.

"Alright then, lets see it." He reached out his hand.

Jude shook her head and held it up, "See? Nothing. Just a blank page. That's how blocked I am. I can't even get one line out."

Tommy laughed, "Man, you've so lost it." He was totally teasing and knew he'd get a reaction.

Jude knew what he was playing at, but gave in none the less, "Yeah, I know. It's a real shame. Maybe it's cause I had a crappy producer for all those years. He just sucked it all out of me."

Tommy looked shocked, but fought back laughter, "Oh. Yeah. I heard about him. Rough guy. I did hear he was terribly good looking, though, and amazing at his job."

Jude tried to respond, but her laughter won out and soon Tommy's laughter broke through too. They sat like that for a while, laughing, drinking coffee and joking around.

Jude was in the middle of making fun of Tommy for his boy band days when Sadie poked her head in. "Hey guys. Didn't see you come in." She looked from Jude to Tommy and back at Jude, with a surprised expression on her face.

Jude and Tommy both turned to face her, and Jude responded, "Well, it's hard to see anything when you're lost in Kwest's eyes."

She then began making kissing noises toward her and soon Tommy joined. Sadie grabbed a marker from the shelf inside the door and threw it at them before leaving. Laughing as she made her way back to Kwest.

Jude looked at Tommy, surprised to see a black line across his forehead. He looked so pitiful. He looked up at her, and with a lip jutted out, said, "I can't believe she threw a marker at me. And one that didn't even have the lid on all the way."

Jude about fell off her chair laughing. "In her defense, I think the lid got caught on your hair gel."

"Ha. Ha. Real funny." He had meant it sarcastically, but the tone had gotten lost in his laugh.

Jude laughed harder at his failed attempt at sarcasm, causing Tommy to seek revenge. He picked up the marker and when Jude was looking down trying to catch her breath, drew a straight line across her forehead. "Ha!"

Jude looked shocked, before shrugging it off. "Well at least we match. Maybe we'll start a new trend."

Tommy just shrugged and they went back to laughing.

Ten minutes later Sadie poked her head in and asked Jude if she needed a ride. Jude accepted, grabbed her bear and left.

Tommy finally calmed himself down, getting all the laughter out of his system before he went to see Kwest.

They talked for a while, mostly about his improving relationship with Sadie, and slightly about Tommy's friendship day with Jude.

After a while, Darius came by and shot them a look that said, 'Get to work', before once again mumbling something about them being a bunch of girls.

Tommy and Kwest chuckled and went back to work.

When Tommy reentered Studio B later that night to get his coat he spotted something brown out of the corner of his eye. He did a double take and realized it was Jude's journal. He picked it up and was about to open the cover when he stopped himself.

_I can't read this. That would totally be wrong. But she did have writers block. Maybe I could look at her old stuff and help. _

He deliberated over it for a few minutes before finally making a choice.

He flipped open the cover and turned the pages to where her London writing began. His eyes grew wider with every song. Songs of love, regret, do overs, and apologies.

Every song was about him.


	8. Falling Over the Edge With You

**A/N: So I know I said I would have this up by this morning, but I crashed when I got home from camp and kinda spaced it. But here it is, a few hours late, but at least it's up. Let me know what you think. I love all of your reviews, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! All reviewers get a cookie! :)**

**Oh, the title is from the song Hear Me Now by Boyce Avenue. **

**Happy reading!**

**Chapter 8: Falling Over the Edge With You**

Sadie looked up from her magazine to find Jude stomping from room to room, emptying the contents onto the floor. "Jude, what on earth are you doing? You're making a mess!"

"My-my journal. Its gone!" Jude said, never taking her eyes off of the cupboard in front of her. She continued to toss it's objects behind her.

"What do you mean it's gone? I'm sure it's not gone, it's probably just-" Sadie was cut off by Jude.

"No. It's gone. I've looked every where. I've gone through everything, and I can't find it anywhere. It's gone!"

Sadie put down her magazine and walked over to her sister. "Jude, you need to calm down. Breath, please." She paused, waiting for Jude to comply, "Okay, good. Don't worry, I'll help. Now where did you last see it?"

Jude paused for a moment, thinking back. Well I remember I for sure had it in the living room this morning."

Sadie nodded, and together they continued to tear apart the house, moving from room to room. After three hours, Sadie looked up at the clock. It read 1:00 AM. Suddenly noticing how tired she was, she let out a large yawn. Jude was too wrapped up in her panic to notice her own tiredness, but she did notice Sadie's.

"It's okay, go to bed. I'll keep looking."

"No. Why don't you go to bed too? We can keep looking tomorrow when we're both refreshed."

Jude protested, but was continually shut down by Sadie. "You're going to bed, and that is that. I'm your older sister so you have to listen to me."

Jude scoffed at her sisters reasoning, but didn't verbalize her objections. Instead she sighed, nodded and started to walk toward the stairs. Jude had no intention of going to bed, but she knew that arguing with Sadie was pointless, especially when she pulled the older sister card.

Sadie smiled, clearly pleased with herself and proceeded to lock up the house before going to bed. She passed Jude's door and heard dresser drawers shutting, figuring she was getting dressed, she continued on to her room. But what Sadie didn't know was that Jude wasn't getting dressed, instead she was emptying out her drawers and tearing her room apart looking for her journal. It was going to be a long night.

--

The next morning, Sadie's eyes fluttered open and she glanced at her clock. 9 AM. Sadie groaned, rolled over and was about to go back to sleep when she remembered she had a date with Kwest at noon. She hopped out of bed, threw her robe on and walked down the hall. She was almost to the stairs when she heard many loud thumping noises coming from Jude's room followed by a loud series of angry grumbles. Sadie stopped walking, turned around and headed to Jude's door. She knocked but no answer came, instead another object was thrown and yet another angry grumble was released. Sadie took that as her cue to enter, and opened the door. She stepped into the room only have a shirt thrown at her. She ducked, narrowly missing it and stood up straight. "Jude! What the crap!"

Jude glanced up at her sister, "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there."

"Well how could you when your ten feet deep in panic?"

Jude continued to empty out the contents of her hamper, too busy to hear what her sister had said. "Yeah, sure."

Sadie knew what could happen when Jude got like this. First she would loose sleep, which she clearly had already done. Next her appearance would suffer; Sadie paused on this one, looking her sister up and down. Jude was still in the clothes she'd had on yesterday, her eyes were blood shot, a black circle underlined each eye, and her forehead was creased in concern and frustration. Clearly this too had already happened. Next she would become obsessed, would do nothing but look and things would just go downhill from there. Sadie decided she had to snap Jude out of this, the house couldn't take much more, especially not what was to come when things went downhill. Sadie walked over to Jude, placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around so they were looking at each other. Sadie looked into her sisters eyes, seeing every bit of frustration and panic that were currently drowning in the tears that threatened to drop any minute. Sadie pulls her into a hug, and softly said, "Don't worry we'll find it. Its not gone forever. It's going to be okay."

Jude held onto her sister, looking for the strength not the break down. Deep down she knew Sadie was right, but she was just too panicked to acknowledge that. She pulled out of the hug and turned around pulling a T-shirt and bra out of the hamper. She was about to throw it over her shoulder when Sadie once again turned her around.

"Jude, drop the clothes."

Jude shook her head and tried to turn back around. "Sadie...I have to keep looking. I have to find it!"

Sadie simply shook her head and in her best authoritative voice said, "Drop. Now."

Jude knew arguing was hopeless and finally gave in. Once she had dropped the clothes, Sadie turned her toward the door and pushed her into the hallway. "Take a bubble bath, relax, and I'll make breakfast."

Jude sighed deeply before nodding. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Once Sadie heard the water running she headed downstairs.

About twenty minutes later, Jude emerged in faded jeans and an old T-shirt with damp hair. Sadie had just finished cooking and handed Jude a plate full of pancakes, bacon and eggs, along with a glass of orange juice.

The ate in silence for a while, before it became too much for Sadie to bear. She maked small talk about a TV show and an article in a magazine, intentionally avoiding all topics Tommy related knowing her sister was on the verge of a break down.

As they finished eating, Sadie had a brilliant idea. She took Jude's plate, placed it in the sink and pushed her toward the stairs. "Go blow dry your hair and then we're leaving."

Jude looked confused, "Where are we going?"

"Well, I have a date with Kwest and since you'll go crazy staying home, you're coming with me."

Jude would have protested, but she was too tired. Besides, she knew Sadie was right, staying home would ultimately lead to a break down. She welcomed the distraction and ran upstairs to finish getting ready.

--

An hour and a half later, Jude and Sadie pulled up to G-Major. Sadie hopped out, grabbing the picnic basket filled with the food they had made and motioned to Jude to follow. Jude was seriously tired now, and leaving home wasn't quite the distraction she had hoped for. Instead, her mind ran crazy of all the places it could be and the fact that she couldn't look was driving her crazy. Jude opened her door and slowly followed her sister. Sadie grabbed her sister's hand, pulling her along through the front doors. When they were inside, Sadie glanced around looking for Kwest, before spotting him in Studio A working on a song with Tommy. A smile spread across her face as she pulled Jude into the studio.

The two boys were too wrapped up in their work to notice the entrance of the Harrison sisters, so Sadie dropped Jude's hand and the basket and moved behind Kwest, placing one hand in front of each eye she said, "Guess who?"

A smile spread across Kwest's face at the sound of her voice as he said, "The most beautiful girl in the world?"

Sadie laughed and said, "Good answer" before turning his chair and kissing him. "Wanna take a break?" She said, picking up the basket.

Kwest was clearly pleased, "I'm starving!"

Sadie nodded, "Good."

Tommy glanced at Sadie out of the corner of his eye before returning to work, still oblivious to the other person in the room.

She reached out and pulled him out of his chair, they linked their fingers and turned to walk out. It wasn't until Kwest finally broke eye contact with Sadie to open the door that he noticed Jude standing in the door way. "See ya, Jude"

Sadie looked up shocked. She had totally forgotten Jude was there and now she was about to leave with Kwest. She didn't want to leave her fragile sister alone, but she desperately wanted alone time with Kwest. Jude read the look on her sisters face before nodding her approval to ditch her. Sadie smiled her thanks and the two left.

Upon hearing Jude's name, Tommy turned in his chair to find her standing next to the door. He looked her up and down, first noticing her comfy clothes, then her blotchy face, the dark circles that surrounded her eyes and finally the tears that were trying desperately to stay in. The smile that had formed upon seeing her faded into concern. "Whats wrong?"

Jude lowered her head to hide her quivering lip.

Tommy stood and walked over to her, placing one finger under her chin so he could raise it up. Their eyes locked and he instantly saw the pain that lies within. "Jude..." he says quietly, "What's wrong?"

She hesitated, taking a deep breath, before saying, "My journal...it's..it's..g-g-gone." By the end tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was having trouble getting words out straight.

An instant wave of guilt came over Tommy at that moment, as he chided himself for not calling her the second he had found it or for not going to her house to give it to her personally. But what made him feel even worse was the girl in front of him breaking down. He wrapped her in a hug and held her there for a few moments. "Alright big eyes," he said as he pulled back and wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb. He released his hold on her, turning toward his bag which sat on a chair a few feet away. He rummaged through it for a few moments before pulling out a leather bound journal.

Jude gasped and then squealed as she lunged for it. "Tommy-you found it!! But how?" She looked through her journal, making sure it was real, before looking to him for an answer.

Tommy shrugged and said, "You left it here last night."

Jude laughed at her own stupidity for not thinking of that. She had torn apart her entire house, looked in places she hadn't touched in months but never once thought of the studio.

Tommy wiped away the few tears that remained on her cheeks before looking into her eyes. "Better?"

Jude chuckled, "Yes, much!" She said before quietly adding, "Thank you."

Tommy nodded with a smile as she practically tackled him in a hug.

"You have no idea how lost I would have been with out it." The words were muffled by his shoulder, but he got the gist.

"Anytime." he replied.

Their hug lingered as Tommy rubbed her back in comfort. The last of the tears working their way out as the panic that she had been holding onto finally left her system. Jude loved the feeling of his arms around her, and as the whole world began to slip away, she made no movement to pull back, wishing it could last forever.

But their forever was interrupted by someone clearing their through obnoxiously. Jude held onto Tommy, not sure if the noise was real, until she heard it again. This time Tommy heard it too and pulled out of their hug to investigate.

As they both turned toward the door, Jude found herself face to face with a complete stranger that was all to familiar to her.

_Sasha. _


	9. Watch Me, Watch Me

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay, so first things first. Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews! You guys make me want to write so much faster. Hint, Hint Yup, you guessed it! The more you review the faster I write. I'm not holding chapters for ransom or anything, but your reviews always inspire and motivate me to write faster. Oh and I'm looking for a beta. So if there is anyone out there who wants to do it, that would be amazing!! Just let me know! **

**So this chapter was a lot of fun to write. I have a lot of big plans for stuff coming up, and this chapter really lays the ground work, and that got me all excited. I named this chapter after the song 'I'm Gone, I'm Going' by Lesley Roy. After you read this chapter you should listen to it. I listened to it over and over again while writing the second half and after reading you'll understand why. **

**Okay, well Happy Reading!**

**Chapter 9: Watch Me, Watch Me**

As Jude pulled fully out of Tommy's arms, she looked at the woman standing in the door way. Sasha wore red heels, skinny dark jeans with a red and black dress shirt that was topped off with a dark, angry look that started in her brown eyes and spread into her frown line and arched eye brows. The look on her face was enough to scare any woman, let alone the woman who, until a few seconds ago, was wrapped around her fiancé's torso, looking all too comfortable. Jude couldn't blame her for being upset, but at the same time she prayed this anger would dissipate.

The three stood in an awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity, but what was actually a few seconds. During those seconds, Tommy and Jude moved several feet apart and now stood out of touching distance.

Tommy stood there, shocked, trying to think of something he could say that would make the situation all better, but nothing came to mind. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but instantly thought better of it and the silence continued. Finally Tommy couldn't take it anymore and figured saying anything was better than saying nothing. "Hey Sasha." He thought that maybe he could play it off as nothing-which it was..right?-and then Sasha wouldn't get upset.

Sasha was anything but pleased, and his relaxed tone didn't help. He wasn't going to be able to fake his way out of this one. Maybe had it been another girl and another situation, like with Sadie or Portia, but not with this ex, not with this history, and definitely not with this girl. It just wasn't going to happen. Taking a few deep breaths in order to keep her voice straight, and failing, Sasha said, "Oh don't 'hey Sasha' me! What is going on here?"

She had started talking looking at Tommy but ended looking pointedly at Jude. Jude shrank back under the intensity of the glare and wanted nothing more than to hide. She glanced around carefully looking for escape routes or places to simply hide away. Her eyes passed from the wall next to her to across the room, she stopped on Tommy and longed to step behind him, to regain that feeling of safety that she had always felt in his arms, but as the situation rushed over her mind, she shook the thought away and continued to look about. Her eyes rested on the door behind Sasha and the room that it opened into. Looking at the faces of its occupants, she looked for someone to help.

Sasha had started talking again, but Jude was far too distracted to hear her. Luckily Sasha had redirected her attention to Tommy, asking him questions in a tight tone, so she didn't notice the pleading look on Jude's face.

Jude scanned the faces and finally found a friendly one. Taylor was standing in the lounge, looking rather out of place and nervous. Her eyes were darting around, taking it all in. Jude focused in on her and prayed that she would notice. Which she did. A moment later, Taylor's wandering gaze fell on Jude. She took in the panicked and pleading look on her face and instantly understood. Making her way across the lounge, she walked toward the door to studio B. Knocking lightly on the door, to get everyone's attention, she waited for all eyes to be on her.

"Sorry to interrupt guys, but," she hesitated, looking at Jude, who nodded for her to continue, "could I borrow Jude, I need her for some...um...Instant Star stuff?"

Jude nodded her approval and moved to the door, briefly passing Sasha and feeling a chill of cold as she went by before glancing back at Tommy, meeting his eyes and feeling an entirely different chill. This chill was familiar and warm and something she felt whenever she looked into his big blue eyes. A smile tugged on her lips out of habit as she quickly ducked out of the room.

--

Once they were out of ear shot of the studio, Jude turned to Taylor. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Taylor laughed quietly, "Your welcome. I recognized the look."

Jude sensed there was a story behind that statement and welcomed the distraction. "Hey, you busy?"

Taylor thought for a minute, "Well, I'm supposed to talk to Darius in a minute..." She trailed off, dread evident in her voice, she was clearly scared of Darius-he was quite the intimidating man after all.

Jude thought for a moment, she knew what the meeting was about. It was the traditional 'tour and laying down the law' meeting, and she knew how much Darius loved doing it. It must have been something about being able to show off his very large and impressive studio and office filled with gold furniture and platinum albums and then intimidating the heck out of the poor new artist with his strict side and impressive height. It wouldn't be easy to make him give it up, it would take a good plan that was executed perfectly. Jude thought for a moment before grabbing Taylor's wrist and dragging her toward the big D's office. She knocked and then walked in when instructed.

"Hey D. So I know you have a meeting with Taylor, but I was hoping to be the one to give her the tour and show her the ropes." Darius didn't say anything, but from the look on his face, he clearly wasn't about to agree. Jude knew she had to sweeten the deal, "And then we would go out to lunch at that new restaurant two blocks down where all the paparazzi hang out." Darius's eyes gleamed, and Jude knew she had won. His weak spot had always been free publicity. He smiled and agreed and the two girls left.

As they walked out, Jude leaned into Taylor and whispered, "Why don't we start with lunch?"

Taylor smiled and nodded, clearly relieved to be out of the intimidating influence of Darius Mills. "So, why don't you tell me what that was all about."

Jude looked at her new friend confused.

"You know...the pained look..the rescue...the insanely ticked off brunette standing in the door way?"

The confusion on Jude's face faded as she understood the question, "Well, I take it you know about me and Tommy, right?"

Taylor shrugged a nod before adding, "I know you two dated at one point and rumors were going on from the beginning but after you left most of them ended."

Jude sighed, wishing it was that simple, "No. Well not quite. We did date 'officially' three times, but there was also years of close calls and almost kisses, along with a lot of real kisses and insane flirting. I swear it was the biggest drama and love story ordeal! But anyways, it ended when he proposed and I accepted but then later declined when I went to London for my music." She took a deep breath, shocked that she could fit over three years of drama into that small of a nutshell.

"But you came back..." Taylor pushed.

"Yeah." She took another big breath, "I came back."

Taylor's eye brows were furrowed in confusion, "Why?"

"Well, I guess I always missed him and deep down I knew my choice was the wrong one but it wasn't until I found out the news of his engagement that I finally came to terms with my choice. So here I am."

"So, you're trying to get him back?"

Jude considered this question, she hadn't come back to break up his relationship, had she? She just wanted him to be happy. But could he be happy without her? They were their best selves when they were with each other. She got lost in the memory of the years they had spent together and was stuck in it until Taylor finally nudged her. Jude blinked hard, bringing herself back into reality, as the two girls walked in the restaurant.

"Good afternoon. How many?" The young, cute blond hostess asked.

"Two." The girls said in unison, then smiled as the hostess led them to a table inside by a window.

They sat, ordered drinks then picked up their menus. When each girl had picked a meal and ordered it, they settled in for some good old girl talk.

"You never did answer my question back there." Taylor reminded. "So...are you trying to get him back?"

Jude took a deep breath, "I don't want to ruin his happiness, but is it wrong to think that he's happiest with me?" She looked down, embarrassed by how conceited that sounded. But Taylor understood.

"No. Not at all. From everything I've heard and the looks you to give each other it's perfectly understandable. Heck I've only seen you two together for a few seconds and I know it's meant to be."

Jude smiled. '_Meant to be.' I like the sound of that. _Her mind wandered into the realm of fairy tale happy endings while Taylor watched, amused by the happy look that was plastered on Jude's face. They sat like that for a few moments, content in the silence, until Taylor's phone vibrated.

The vibration pulled Jude out of her dreams. She looked up to see Taylor, phone open, eyes wide and face pale. Her mouth was opened in shock and her eyes frozen in fear.

Jude went into friend recovery mode, grabbing Taylor's hand and looking into her eyes. "Tay?...Taylor?...Taylor!"

Taylor finally registered the sounds of her name being called and found Jude's eyes.

Jude looked into two very sad eyes and with a soft voice asked, "Taylor, what is it?"

Taylor sat frozen, still bringing herself back to reality and out of the shock that had fallen around her. A few moments later she finally found her voice. "My-my-phone. um...I-I got a text." She handed Jude the phone with the last word.

Jude took the phone and looked down at the text that had shaken her friend so badly, reading it slowly.

_Did you really think you could hide?_

Jude read it over and over again, trying to grasp at it's meaning, before finally turning her attention back to it's recipient. "Who sent it?"

Taylor took a deep breath, pulling deep for courage, before saying, "Jason. He-he was my ex. Um, my ex-boy friend. We broke up a few weeks before Instant Star started. He, um, well let's just say he wasn't the best boyfriend."

Jude could sense where this was going, but needed conformation, so she pushed her forward. "What happened?"

Taylor took a deep breath, painful memories flowing over her. "Well, I should start from the beginning. We met a year ago by chance at a carnival. He was really cute at first at it all seemed like fate. I loved him and I thought he loved me back, but one day he started getting really possessive and..and angry. At first he would only get upset if I was alone with one of my guy friends, and when I would call him on it he would say that he just didn't trust them, and that he worried. Normally I'm not stupid, and had it been one of my friends I would have told them to get out of the relationship right then and there. But I guess my love blinded me, because I some how found it sweet that he was worried, and just told myself he was being protective. It went on like that for about another month and then he started getting upset when I was with anyone, whether it was my friends or even my family too much. At that point I started getting a little worried or noticing that something wasn't right with all of this. We started fighting a lot, I loved him and wanted to work it out. I tried to make him see how he had nothing to worry about, but he wouldn't budge. He told me that I couldn't see my friends anymore because they would try to keep us apart. When I fought him on it, he got really angry and it scared me. I just wanted to end the fighting, so I told him I wouldn't see them anymore. But my friends are my life, so instead I just told him I was taking on really long hours at work and then would go to see my friends. I never told them what was going on, I just kept it myself and lived like that for the next three months. Secretly seeing my friends for two hours after work, then visiting him for an hour before finally going home. That was when things got really bad. One night I went to his house after being with my friends like always, and he was sitting in the living room, waiting for me. Apparently he had gone by my work to surprise me and my boss told him I was always off by 6, never later. He hit me that night." Taylor stopped as the emotional dam that had been building up finally broke. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she squeezed Jude's hand for comfort.

After a few deep breaths, she finally found the strength to continue. "After he hit me, he immediately apologized and swore he would change." She paused again, laughing under the tears, "I can't believe I was stupid enough to believe him." The laughter faded as she faced the memories, "A week later, I told him I was signing up for Instant Star. He told me I wouldn't make it and called me scum. We had a huge fight and he hit me again." She paused, looking up into Jude's eyes, with a glimmer of pride "I left that night." She let out a deep breath, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment. Jude digesting everything she had just heard, and Taylor recovering from her trip down memory lane. Jude was the one to break the silence.

"Okay. So you left, won Instant Star, proving him wrong, but then what?" She needed the connection between the end of the story and the text message that sat in front of them.

Taylor knew what she was asking and thought back over the past month. "Well, when I made the top four, he started to call me. At first I just ignored him. He left voice mails and text messages, even sent roses right before the finale. Everything said he was sorry and that he wanted me to come back. But I knew better than to fall for his lies again, so I just ignored everything; I immediately deleted every message and threw away every present, keeping him as far out of my life as possible. After about a week and a half of ignored apologies, he started to get angry. His messages proved he hadn't changed. He started sending me texts about how I didn't deserve to win, and that I only won because I was a slut. With everyday, his messages got angrier and more vile. But I just kept ignoring him, taking comfort in the fact that he couldn't find me, that is until this." She motioned to her cell phone, and tears started to run down her cheeks again.

Jude's mind went into over drive, trying to think of ways to help her friend. Obviously they had to keep her safe. If Jason truly knew where Taylor was, Jude had to find some way to protect her from the anger that has been bottling up inside a very unstable man. Suddenly an idea popped into her mind.

Jude reached over, and once again to Taylor's hand. When Taylor looked up, Jude could see the panic her eyes held. "Tay listen to me. It's going to be okay. Alright? I have a plan."

Taylor nodded, and let out the last of her crying. "What. Did. You. Have. In. Mind?" She asked, stifling a cry between each word.

"Well, obviously you can't be alone. So we're gonna have to have someone with you at all times. We can recruit Tommy, Kwest, Sadie and even my old body guard Big Lou. Trust me, you'll like him." She laughed a little at the memory of Big Lou. "You can spend as much time at my house as you want, or we can find you a hotel. What ever makes you comfortable. We'll see how things go. If this all dies out, and we don't see him, you can go on living life normally, but if the messages get any worse at all. I mean it, like if he gets specific about where you are, if he gets angrier or makes any threats, you're moving in with me and Big Lou is never leaving your side. Okay?"

Taylor took a deep breath, taking in the plan. Despite the sudden restrictions, she felt inexplicably safe and relieved. "Thank you Jude."

Jude just nodded, and then took out her cell phone. She needed to call in reinforcements.

--

An hour later, Jude, Kwest, Tommy, Sadie and Taylor all moved into the Harrison's living room. Jude stood in the center, while the others found seats around the room.

"Alright, so I know you're all wondering why I called you here, especially in the middle of a work day, but we have a problem."

Four bodies stiffened at the word problem. Jude paused for a moment, allowing everyone to mentally brace themselves. "More specifically, Taylor has a problem. But as friends, we are now making it our problem too."

Tommy, Kwest and Sadie all looked puzzled. They barely knew Taylor. Sure they had met, and Tommy and Kwest had been assigned as her producers but no real bonding had happened yet. Jude understood their expressions but chose to ignore them, hoping Taylor couldn't read her friends as well as she could.

"So I'm gonna give you all the cliff notes version of this. Taylor had a really bad relationship before Instant Star with a pretty angry and violent guy. They broke up right before the competition started but now he's trying to push his way back in. He started off nice, but now has gotten angry. Today he sent her this." Jude picked up Taylor's cell phone, revealing the text message. She read it aloud and waited for everyone to digest it. She looked over at Taylor, who was near tears once again, before continuing. "So as you can see, Taylor is in danger. We don't know for sure that Jason is actually in town or even knows where she lives, but I don't want to risk it. So I have devised a plan for her to never be alone. We'll all take shifts. We'll be bringing in Big Lou for at night and she can stay here some nights too." She paused, looking at Sadie for approval. Sadie nodded, and Jude continued. "But we're gonna need help during the day. Kwest, you and Tommy will need to keep an eye out for her at G-Major and in the parking lots surrounding. I'll cover lunch breaks and other outside stuff. Sadie, I'll need you to help the boys cover the parties and we'll split her interviews. I'll be able to do a lot, but I do have to do some promotional stuff while I'm here, and so I'll need a little help." All three friends nodded their approval, clearly more than happy to help. Despite the fact that they had only known Taylor for a few days, she was instantly a part of the group.

Jude thought for a minute, then walked into the kitchen. When she came back she had a notebook and a pen. "Okay, so I'll need you to write down any times you can or can not be with her so I can make a schedule. Sadie and I will cover after she leaves G-Major for the most part, with the help of Big Lou.-who I've already called and is totally down for helping. It's a good thing I got into so much trouble way back when, or else we wouldn't have the best in the business at our beckon call." She had meant it as a joke, but her three closest friends just shuddered at the memories.

After an awkward moment of silence, Sadie finally posed a question. "So, what's the long term plan? Are we talking restraining orders? Harassment charges? What?"

Jude thought for a moment, going over the plan in her head. "Well, we're gonna monitor the messages for a week, try to get a feel for if he's bluffing or if he'll give up. By this time next week, regardless of the past weeks results, she is getting a new phone number. And if at anytime before that he either threatens her or specifically can prove he's watching, we're going straight to the cops and filing charges. I'll look into the process of a restraining order today and we'll go from there on that. Obviously we want one in place as soon as possible."

Every person in the room was in agreement with what she had just said, and were open to anything needed to help. Jude looked to Taylor, who was now trying very hard to hold the tears in. Jude went over to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and crouched down in front of her chair, and asked softly, "You okay will all of this?"

Taylor nodded slightly, before breaking down. She wrapped her arms around Jude's neck and buried her face in her shoulder as the tears escaped uncontrollably and she began to sob. Jude held onto her with one hand, while motioning the others to come over with the other. Sadie stood first, she quickly walked over and wrapped her arms around Taylor. A few moments later, Kwest and Tommy made their way over, and soon they all sat in a group hug, with Taylor crying in the middle.

It wasn't long after, that Taylor finally was able to contain her emotions. She excused herself to the bathroom, so she could wash her face. No one had anywhere they needed to be and each person just wanted to be there for Taylor, so the group of friends settled in for a night of pizza and movies, with the newest addition sitting in the middle. Her sources of strength and beacons of hope surrounding her.

**Now do you get why that song inspired me in this chapter? If not, go listen and you will. So, I think you should review and tell me what you think. In fact, theres a nice little blue button right there ready for you to click. You should, you wouldn't want to waste a perfectly good button, would you? Also, all reviewers get a virtual bouncy ball! So review!**


	10. Take Time To Realize

**A/N: Hey guys!! Thanks for the reviews! They make me so happy! So I've been working on this chapter for a while, editing it and such. I was going to make it longer, but I hit writer's block and decided you had waited long enough. So here it is. And to make up for the long wait, I gave you some Jommy goodness!! Let me know what you think. All reviewers get a giant lollipop!**

**Oh and I need a beta so if you are one, or if you know one, let me know! :)**

**This chapter is named after Realize by Colbie Caillat. **

**Happy Reading!**

**Chapter 10: Take Time To Realize**

Taylor opened her eyes. A bright light was shining through the window, marking a new day. And it was marking it all over her face. She scrunched up her features, and lifted a hand to block its path, saving her eyes. She blinked, hard, for a few moments, waiting for the black spots to disappear. Finally when they did, she slowly turned back toward the large windows of the Harrison's living room. Propping her head up on her hand, she glanced around, taking in the scene in front of her. A small smile played upon her lips, as she couldn't help but feel she was on Noah's ark, because all her friends had managed to couple up during the night. She thought back over the previous night, remembering that Tommy and Kwest had come over with Sadie so Jude could explain the whole messy psycho-ex-boyfriend situation. Taylor looked around, noticing the 'Leaning tower of _pizza_' that had been formed with the empty pizza boxes. She smiled as she remembered Jude's lame attempt at a joke. Only tommy had laughed, and even then it was only a small chuckle. After they had ordered the five large pizzas they put in a movie and had all settled in, and two movies and five slices later, Taylor had fallen asleep.

Last she had seen, Sadie and Kwest had been cuddling on the recliner next to the couch, where she laid, and Jude and Tommy had been laying side by side watching the movie. And now, as she looked around, she noticed Kwest holding Sadie in his arms, pulling her close to his chest, not a surprise. What was a surprise, however, was how she found Jude and Tommy. Jude had evidently rolled over while asleep, and was now half on top of Tommy. Her head rested on his chest and her body was cradled in the crook of his left arm. Tommy's left hand rested against her arm and his right hand was placed on her back, holding her close. It was quite the sight, and Taylor couldn't help but smile, because despite all the complications of the real world, this looked right. And the best part was that it had happened in their sleep, as if their subconsciouses knew the truth of their combined destinies even though they wouldn't admit it consciously. The sun shifted again, knocking the light back into her eyes, she grumbled and got up to shut the curtains. Turning off the forgotten TV on her way, she walked into the kitchen, making sure her favorite couple were still in sight; she couldn't wait to see their reactions when they woke up.

Taylor opened the fridge grabbing juice then found herself some pop tarts and settled down at the counter to read the comics. Small, muffled giggles escaped her lips as she tried to remain quiet. She leaned back in her chair, glancing into the living room at the couple sleeping. She may be dying to see their reaction, but she would kill anyone who woke either Jude or Tommy. She put a hand over her mouth to cover her laughs, and continued reading.

Jude's eyes fluttered open. She had slept great, the first night in a long time that she hadn't had a nightmare. Her mind replayed images from her dreams, all happy and content. She signed in pleasure and then became aware of the familiar arms and warm body that surrounded her. Jude froze, thinking over the night. She was certain she had fallen asleep _next _to Tommy, not on top of him, not like this. Concluding that she simply had moved in her sleep, and that it was a complete accident, she debated whether she should move. It was possible she could slip off of him with out waking him, but did she want to? She deliberated feelings versus logic, and her heart won the battle, as she decided to stay right where she was for as long as possible. Letting out a deep, relaxing breath, she closed her eyes but she fought to stay awake. She wanted to savor this time, not waste it with sleep. She made a mental note of every feeling she had, of the touch of his hand on her arm, the feeling of warmth his hand left on her back the amazing pillow his chest made. She inched herself closer to him, taking in the smell oh his cologne. _Mmm..I've missed that. _She thought, as she took in a deep breath of the amazing smell, and soon, despite her best attempts, she fell asleep.

A few minutes later, Tommy shifted his head. He wasn't ready to be awake yet, but his neck was killing him. Making small adjustments, he finally found a better position and started to fall asleep again. Taking in a deep breath, he took in the smell of lilacs that surrounded him. He smiled for a moment, before registering what it meant. His eyes shot open and he looked down at the girl in his arms, the all too familiar smell of lilacs flowing through her hair. After getting over the shock, much as Jude had, he debated what to do next. Gazing down at the heavily asleep girl, he knew he could move without waking her. Her breathing was slow and even, a sure sign that she was in so deep not even a nuclear war head could bring her out. A debate went on in his head, fighting over his next action. Despite the logic he had, he couldn't bring himself to move. He had missed this and he knew that once she awoke it would be taken away from him. So he did what anyone would do, he stayed perfectly still. He closed his eyes, savoring her every touch. Her head and hand on his chest, her arm in his hand and her legs touching his. He watched her body rise and fall with each breath, lulling him back to sleep with its soft, even rhythm. His eyes become heavier with each breath, and finally when he couldn't survive it any longer, he pulled her slightly closer to him and allowed himself to fall asleep.

Taylor looked on, smiling in the kitchen. She had seen it all, from Jude waking up to Tommy falling asleep. Each slept calmly, barely moving, clearly a sign that even in their sleep they did what ever they could as to not disturb the other. _Sooo made for each other. _She though. _If only they would open their eyes and admit it. _

She laughed quietly at the cuteness of the situation. Her gaze being torn away by the vibration of the phone in her pocket. She glanced down, smile still intact, and pulled it out. 'New Message' was written across the screen. And as Taylor opened it and began to read, her smile dropped a little further with each word. By the last word, she was so shocked she dropped her phone. It hit the hard wood floor, shattering into five pieces.

The sound of the crash woke everyone up. Sadie shot up, startled, falling off the chair, which caused Kwest to immediately stand up to help her. Jude's eyes shot open and she slowly lifted her head, glancing around. Her eyes met Tommy's. A small smile formed on his face, causing Jude to blush at the situation. After a moment, Jude remembered what had woken her. Looking around desperately, she tried to spot Taylor. Her eyes caught a glimpse of her in the kitchen, so Jude shot up to her feet and ran in.

The first thing she saw was Taylor's expression. Shock plagued her face, but fear filled her eyes. Jude stepped closer, feeling plastic under her foot, she bent down and began to pick up the pieces of the phone. Putting the battery back in place, and fixing the covers, she turned it on. The phone rang back to life and Jude handed it to Taylor, a never ending question in her eyes. Taylor finally came to when the phone was placed in her hand. She blinked hard and looked into Jude's eyes. Jude waited, knowing she would talk when she was ready. Taylor tried to talk, but failed. Instead a small, inaudible gasp was all that escaped her lips. She looked back down at her phone before trying and failing again. After a silent minute of looking back and forth, Taylor finally accepted she couldn't talk and instead pulled the message up and handed it to Jude.

_I must admit, your apartment is nice. But not nearly as much fun with out you in it. _

Jude read the message, then reread it again and again. Taylor's shock spread to Jude and they both stood there silent.

Back in the living room, Sadie, Kwest and Tommy all sat in silence, waiting for news of what had happened. But none came. Instead silence filled the void, Jude's voice had stopped and now there was nothing but tension in the room. Tommy couldn't take it anymore, so he got up and walked toward the kitchen. Sadie and Kwest waited a moment before following.

Tommy entered the kitchen and stopped dead at the image in front of him. Jude and Taylor stood, frozen in fear. Jude staring blankly at a cell phone and Taylor staring off into space, looking out the window as if her life depended on it.

He walked forward, and placed a hand on Jude's shoulder. When she didn't move, he tightened his grip on her shoulder slightly. The sudden, gently pressure pulled Jude out of her thoughts. She jumped about a mile high, fumbling with the cell phone, that sat in the grip of her white knuckles. Tommy rubbed her shoulder slightly, in an attempt to comfort her, and placed his hand on top of hers. Her grip on the phone loosened with Tommy's warm touch and her eyes finally found his.

They stared at each other for a moment before Jude finally found the power to speak. "Text." was all she said, averting her gaze to the phone. Tommy looked at her sympathetically and then picked up the phone cautiously. Jude released it and leaned into Tommy's chest, suddenly feeling the world around her start to spin. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder in support, before reading the text. After reading it twice he finally understood the emotions of the girls before him.

He looked to Taylor, who hadn't moved and thought of what to do. Not knowing if he could leave Jude to stand on her own, he nodded to Sadie and then tossed the phone to her. She caught it with ease. Reading the message and understanding at once, she handed it to Kwest and walked over to Taylor, gently pulling her into a hug.

"You're going to be okay. You hear me? Nothing is going to happen to you. You'll be fine." Sadie said, with such determination in her voice that no one would dare call anything she said a lie. She repeated it over and over until Taylor finally came out of the shock of the situation and pulled Sadie into a tighter hug. The tears began to flow and he knees gave out. Sadie felt her sudden unbalance and lowered Taylor to the floor, still holding onto her. Sadie suddenly felt as though she had a new little sister, as she could remember doing this with Jude though out the years, mostly when she was little and scared of something silly. Sadie fell into the routine of it all, whispering calming words into her ear, rubbing her back comfortingly and holding on to her, promising she would be okay.

It took Taylor a few minutes to regain control of her emotions. She took a final deep breath before pulling out of the hug and wiping her tears away.

Jude leaned out of Tommy's support and walked over to her. Placing a comforting hand on her back, Jude said, "You'll stay here. Until this is over. Got it? No where alone! Not even in the studio. We'll be here for you always, okay? Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING will happen! Okay?"

Taylor nodded and a grateful smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Thanks" she mouthed.

Jude nodded, before pulling her up. She led her into the living room and sat her back down on the couch. Then she turned to face the group behind her. "Alright, so the situation has slightly changed. So we need a new game plan. Clearly he is in town, although it is extremely doubtful he knows she's here. The press doesn't even know of our close friendship yet, so I think we're safe for now. But just to be safe, we'll set the alarm at all times, and she'll sleep in the guest room." She looked to Sadie and Taylor for conformation and approval and they both nodded.

She then looked to Tommy and Kwest. "You two have seriously got to keep a close eye on her at the studio. Make sure one of you can always see her. It won't be hard for him to find out where the label is and he could easily sneak in and catch her off guard. And while I doubt he would try anything in front of everyone, we should just play it safe. Tay and I will go talk to Darius today, so he should be able to help. Also, I'm gonna call up Big Lou and see if he can put in a little extra time too. I'm gonna want him with us whenever we're in public, which, by the way," She said, looking to Taylor, "You're not aloud to go out in alone." Taylor again nodded. After Jude went over everything she had said last night, making every rule and precaution just a little more strict, she finally sat down and let out a deep breath.

Silence filled the room as everyone got lost in their thoughts. Sadie snapped out of it first, her growling stomach pulling her back into reality. "Alright," She said, standing up, her maternal instincts taking over, "I'm making breakfast. All of you go get ready. Taylor you can borrow some of Jude's clothes for now, seeing how as you can't exactly go home. I think we should wait for Big Lou on that one." The girls nodded and left the room. Sadie turned to the boys, "And as for you two. I really don't care what you wear, although I doubt Jude's clothes will fit you," she hesitated, holding back a laugh as she pictured them trying, "but you should at least brush your teeth or something. We have extra tooth brushes in the bathroom drawer. Second down." The boys nodded too, leaving the room, and Sadie walked into the kitchen, set on making the ultimate comfort food filled breakfast.

--

**A/N: So, what did you think? I've been busy outlining the next few chapters, so I should have the next few up really quick. And if you review, it will be even faster! So hit that adorable blue button and tell me what you think! Any ideas you have would be amazing! Help me with writers block and such, and get my mind going. Oh and remember, if you want to beta this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know! Or even if you just know a really good instant star beta, please tell me!! Ready..Set..REVIEW!**


	11. I Keep Coming Back For More

**This is gonna be a long A/N cause I have a lot to say...just a heads up. **

**A/N: Guess what? I finally stopped obsessing over this chapter and decided to post it! I have been going crazy trying to write it for the past few weeks. But I've decided to stop freaking out and just post it. :) Oh, and 'guess what?' #2, I now present to you my first ever betad-chapter! exciting right. maybe more for me than you, but still. Huge thanks and virtual goodness to my amazing beta-modernxxmyth!!  
Also big, thankful, amazing goodness shotout to Girl Underground, whose Instant Star story i have become obsessed with (you should all read it) and has now started reading mine. :) It's so much fun bouncing ideas off eachother! :)  
Oh and if anyone has any ideas or requests or whatever, totally just let me know. I love getting new ideas, it totally breaks down my writers block!  
BTW, chapter title is from 'Just The Girl' by The Click Five. Great Song!!**

**I realized I never put a disclaimer on this story. So here it is. I do not now (but maybe one day-if i close my eyes and wish real hard) own Instant Star. But I do own the few episodes on my itunes which i watch repeatedly and cherish dearly! It kind of makes me sad that I dont own it, but then I just watch a Jommy moment and I'm good again. :) lol. **

**So here it is. I now present chapter 11. Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Eleven: I Keep Coming Back For More**

Sadie was pulled out of the shallow world she had found in her magazine when the front door barreled open, and Jude came tumbling through, with a large rolled rug falling on her, Taylor's scream quickly following. She shot up from the couch to find Jude laying on the floor, under the now unrolled pink rug, with Taylor standing next to her, doubled over in laughter. Sadie moved closer to examine the situation.

"You guys scared the crap out of me! What on earth-" she had started to reprimand them but was currently consumed with laughter at the sight in front of her. "Honestly!" she said, between amused gasps.

All three girls lied on the floor, their bodies shaking with laughter, until they finally regained composure. Sadie sat up first, her voice still shaky with giggles. "What were you doing?"

Jude took a deep breath, trying desperately to stop laughing, before saying, "Well, we got Big Lou to help us move her stuff, and then we stopped at a few stores on the way home to get some new stuff and dropped Big Lou off, before coming home. But we thought we could carry it all in on one trip, and we were doing great until I tripped on the door frame and, well, you saw the rest."

Sadie burst into laughter again, both at her sisters clumsiness and the big pile of things Taylor and Jude had dropped in the door way. A few moments later, all three girls regained their composure and started gathering the things. After a few trips up the stairs and two hours later, Taylor was totally unpacked and felt completely at home. They had decorated her room, both with her old stuff and the new things they had purchased, and then they filled the closet and dresser drawers with both old and new clothes.

Now, Jude and Taylor laid on the new queen sized bedding, looking up at the ceiling. They were laughing about the _Boyz Attack_ poster that they had bought, just to embarrass Tommy, that was now pinned on her wall. Jude couldn't wait for him to see it. She could just picture his face turning red with embarrassment and the expression on his face while he tried to act cool. The picture of this only made Jude laugh harder.

The bed shook with laughter as Taylor and Jude scrambled to catch their breath. After a few moments, they were both able to contain their giggles, but neither moved until Sadie yelled "Pizza!" at the top of her lungs, signifying dinner was here.

--

Taylor and Jude were sitting on the couch, eating their pizza, when suddenly the entire house was filled with music. Taylor and Jude shared a look when they realized that the song was none other than _Pick Up the Pieces_. Any chance they had of holding back laughter was lost as soon as Sadie came around the corner wearing a white jacket with the collar popped up and holding a round hairbrush. Giggles escaped their lips and the laughter only escalated as Sadie began to sing, very badly. "_I was adrift on the ocean, all alone." _

She ran up to Jude, shoving the 'microphone' in her face, with a look that was both full of excitement and threat. Jude knew she couldn't get out of it, so she quickly grabbed the hairbrush and jumped to say the next line. "_But you came, and rescued me, when I was far from home." _Jude reached out and handed the brush back to Sadie, but Sadie just grabbed her arm instead, and pulled her up. Jude gave her a look of anguish, but didn't hesitate in joining in on the dance moves.

Taylor stayed in her spot on the couch, shaking with laughter, while the two sisters danced through the first verse and chorus. Just as she began to catch her breath, she was pulled up and into the middle of the room, a hairbrush placed in her hand. The sisters reminded her of the moves and soon they were all dancing the trademark dance.

The chorus started for a second time, and the girls were having more fun and were more into it than ever. They were so enthralled with the music that they didn't even hear a knock at the door, much less it opening. It wasn't until they heard the voice that they returned to the normal world.

"What on earth?" A voice said, with a chuckle.

All three girls instantly spun around to see Kwest and Tommy standing in the doorway, in front of the open front door. Kwest was doubled over in laughter, while Tommy just sat there, shock, embarrassment and amusement all evident on his face. Sadie picked up the remote and paused the music, before looking back to Kwest. He looked at her, a comical question on his face, and she just shrugged. "_Like_ you've never done this."

"I haven't." Kwest said with pride.

Sadie's smile turned into a smirk as she looked to Kwest's left. "No. But Tommy has."

Jude and Taylor lost it all over again, practically falling to the ground from laughter. Tommy looked down for a moment, before meeting Jude's highly amused gaze and returning it. "Yeah_**. **_But I did it right, and much better." He said, raising his eye brows, challenging her.

"All right, Quincy. Let's see it." She said, motioning to the floor behind her. "Go on. Let's see this 'much better'."

Tommy started to protest but Sadie stepped in, backing Jude up, and by that point Tommy knew arguing was pointless.

He reluctantly stepped forward and Sadie handed him the hair brush microphone. She was about to push play when Jude stopped her.

"Wait!"

Sadie instantly lifted her finger from the remote and turned to her sister. "What?"

A smirk pulled up on Jude's face as she stepped forward, mischief evident in her eyes. Tommy's eyes widened, he knew that look and it only meant one thing, trouble.

"Something's missing." She placed a finger on her lips, acting as though she was thinking about it, before nodding, dropping her hand and stepping forward. She walked up to Tommy, raising her arms around his neck. He stiffened at the warmth of her touch and fought every urge to lean down and kiss her and she worked her way behind his neck and grabbed onto the collar of his leather jacket, and popped it up.

She stepped back to examine her work, then nodded to Sadie and shrugged. "Okay. We're good." Tommy just rolled his eyes, while Sadie fought back laughter.

Sadie finally pushed play and the song started over. It started out as just Tommy singing and dancing, very timidly, before Taylor and Jude started cheering like 13 year old girls at a concert. Unable to fight the encouragement, Tommy started to sing and dance with more and more passion. Soon it was like he was back on stage at one of his concerts. The moves came easily, almost like second nature.

Jude couldn't take it anymore. It looked like too much fun, so she shot up off the couch, landing next to Tommy. Finding the beat quickly, she jumped in mid-dance move and together, Tommy and she dominated the floor. By the next verse, they were joined by all but Kwest, who claimed "someone needs to video tape it."

The four friends forgot their worries, and left self-consciousness to the wind, as they danced through the theme song to the 90s, all on video tape. When the song finally ended, Jude collapsed to the floor, sprawling out as she panted and tried desperately to catch her breath. It wasn't long before all five of them were on the floor. The four performers tried to regain normal breathing while Kwest fought desperately to hold back a fit of laughter, which wasn't very successful.

--

As soon as they were able to breath again, the boys complained that they were hungry, followed by a quick, "Do I smell pizza?" After that there was no hope, their pizza had been revealed and was soon consumed by the hunger of two grown men, who in the moment couldn't have looked more childish. The three girls watched in amazement, and slight disgust, as the two boys each put down four slices of pizza in under ten minutes. Tommy pushed his plate away, leaned back in his chair and wiped his face with a napkin, looking completely content. Jude couldn't take it anymore.

"Did you need something? Or did you just come here to eat our food?"

Tommy raised his eye brows in skepticism at her tone. Disbelief mixed with shock filled his face, as he looked to Sadie for an explanation.

"Don't look at me. _You _guys are the ones who each ate four slices of her favorite pizza, when she only had two. That was her reward for fixing up Taylor's room, and you ate it. So don't look to me to save you. You totally deserve what's coming."

Tommy and Kwest exchanged a scared look. Jude's wrath was not something you wanted to be caught in. It always ended in either being yelled at on MTV or having your hair gel tendencies posted online or switching producers. Or worse, producing a crappy album with your name on it. Okay so maybe the last one wasn't intentional, but subconsciously, she totally meant it. Tommy grimaced at the memory before looking back to Jude, who looked angry, annoyed and like she was plotting something sinister. Tommy knew he had to distract her and fast, before she formed a plan.

"So...you fixed up Taylor's room?" He studied her face, looking for anything that might signify success. But no change came. "I...I'd love to see it. Wouldn't you Kwest? Come on, let's go right now. Upstairs, right? The old guest room?" Nothing came from Jude. "Yeah, right. Okay. Let's go." Tommy and Kwest both stood from the table and started to slowly walk away. Tommy looked back, "Ya coming, Jude?" He wished so desperately that her face would change expressions, but wanted desperately to take it back when a small evil smirk spread across her lips, followed by a fake and over-done smile.

"Sure! Let's go!" She shot up. Taylor and Sadie gave her puzzled looks. "You'll love the 'art' we put up on her wall." She turned back and winked at the two girls. Suddenly it all made sense. They stood up and hurried to catch up to Jude. All five of them made their way up the stairs, Jude and Taylor insisting on leading the way, while Sadie stayed in the back to prevent any escape.

"All right, close your eyes." Kwest immediately listened; he always did like surprises, but Tommy wasn't so easy to persuade. He studied the girls in front of him, looking around closely for anything that might be used as a weapon or to shank him. Because when it came to Jude's pizza, things could get ugly. Deciding there was no harm, he finally closed his eyes, much to Jude's approval.

She led them inside the room, and turned them to face away from the poster. Instructing them to open, they took it all in, slowly turning to see every detail. The girls all exchanged an amused look, and Tommy couldn't for the life of him, figure out why. Then he saw it. Kwest began laughing so hard he had to sit down on the edge of the bed. Tommy, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Upon seeing the poster of his so-called 'glory days' his jaw dropped, and his eyes practically bugged out. Shock overcame every emotion as he stared up at it. He stayed still for a moment, before turning to Jude, playful anger in his eyes. "_You_."

Jude smiled proudly and nodded, pointing to her self. "Me."

Tommy just shook his head, stepping closer and closer to her. Jude's retreating steps matched his and soon she was out the door and into the hallway. Her smile still in place, but slight fear of what he'd do filled her eyes. She took one more step into the hallway before opening her eyes wide and pointing at the wall in front of her, and behind Tommy. "What is that?" she screamed. Tommy instinctively turned to look, while Jude made her way down the stairs. When Tommy turned back around, Jude was half way down the stairs. He chuckled quietly before chasing after her. She ran quicker and reached for the front door, yelling back things like, "Don't touch me, Tommy" and "It was only fair, Tommy" as well as, "You have to admit, it was pretty funny". As he got closer, she turned to face him, walking backwards. She smiled innocently. "Oh, come on Tommy. You know it was funny. And you _did _eat my pizza, so I say it was completely justified."

Tommy just shook his head. "No. No, I don't think so. 'Cause that poster was up _way _before I ate your pizza. So, really, me eating your pizza was just payback."

"Payback?" Jude howled. "Yeah right. It doesn't count if you didn't have anything to payback at the time." She laughed. "So, sorry. But it looks like I win again."

Tommy smiled, "You do, do you?"

Jude nodded proudly, still backing up. Finally, her back hit the front door. She twisted the knob, opened the door quickly and stepped backwards, only to hit hard on something. She stepped forward, taking a moment to regroup, before turning around to see what she had hit.

Her eyes grew in shock at the sight in front of her: three goofy guys with duffel bags and guitars in hand, each wearing that all-knowing smirk she had grown to love over the years.

Speiderman took in the shock on her face and laughed. "What? Surprised to see us? We just thought you could use some good old 'boy time'. Sound good, dude?" Jude laughed slightly.

"Yeah. It sounds good." She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Speid's neck. "It sounds really good. Man, I've missed you guys!" She released him from the hug and stepped out of their way, allowing them to step inside. As each boy passed through the door frame they all nodded to Tommy, first Speid then Kyle and finally Wally. "Lord Squinty Frown."

"Q."

"Tommy."

Tommy rolled his eyes and Jude just laughed, Wally always was the polite one.

The guys all set their stuff in the living room, before coming back to the entry way where Jude and Tommy stood. Jude's face was pure joy as she took in the boys in front of her. She had never felt more at home, and life had never seemed more normal. Something was missing though, and she just couldn't quite put her finger on what.

Sadie was making her way down the stairs with Taylor and Kwest behind her, when she stopped abruptly upon seeing the newly arrived guests. "Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite boys. Couldn't stay away I see."

"Hey!" Kwest shot out, looking hurt. "What are we," he said, pointing to Tommy and himself, "chopped liver?"

Sadie turned to him, quietly laughing. "No, hun. Just Tommy is. Don't worry."

Kwest just laughed, and now it was Tommy's turn to feign feeling hurt. But Jude elbowed him in the chest before he could take it too far. Everyone just laughed it off.

Sadie made the last few steps and wrapped the SME boys all in a group hug. "Too bad it takes Jude to get you guys to come around."

Speid tried to think of a good excuse but came up short, so he just said the first thing that came to mind. "Well...we brought meat." He held up the bag and gave Sadie a hopeful look. She smiled and nodded.

"Well then, get in here."

They all moved into the kitchen and started unloading the snacks. Jokes were passed around, old stories reminisced, and soon it almost felt like old times, but Jude still couldn't figure out what was different. But luckily, Sadie did.

"Dang, all we need is Andrews and its high school all over again."

"That's it!" Jude looked up to see every person staring at her with concern, amusement and confusion. "And I totally just said that out loud, didn't I?"

"More like yelled it," Speid corrected. "And yes. Oh, and for those of us who aren't in your head, what is it?"

"The thing that's missing. Ever since you got here something's been off, and I couldn't figure it out, but it's Jamie!"

The guys all nodded in understanding. Speid looked at Jude with fake seriousness, using a tone that should signify the world ending. "Then what are you still doing here?"

He pointed to the exit, and Jude took off running through it, heading straight for the familiar door twenty feet away.

--

"So this is the infamous NB Records?" Jude asked nonchalantly, as she walked down the last few steps that led to the basement.

Jamie spun around in his chair, surprise soon transformed into happiness as he lept up and wrapped Jude in a hug. "Yup. And this must be the famous Jude Harrison, international music success," he said as he pulled out of the hug.

"The one and only," she smirked.

Jamie just laughed and offered her a seat and one of Nana's chocolate chip cookies, which she happily accepted before stuffing her face with it and grabbing two more. Jamie arched an eyebrow and looked at her with a look that was half concern and half amusement.

Jude chuckled nervously, which wasn't easy with a mouthful of cookie, and shrugged. "What? I've missed these."

Jamie just laughed before offering her more, which she was more than happy to accept.

Just as Jude was stuffing her fifth cookie into her mouth, and Jamie was doing the final adjustments for Speid's new song, an upstairs door slammed. This caused both friends to jump a mile high, before sharing a worried glance. Just as Jamie was about to stand up and go investigate, Zeppelin emerged from around the corner, practically skipping down the stairs.

Clearly on cloud nine, she started yelling as she made her way down, "Guess what? Guess what? I just got Spied that gig on-" She paused, noticing, for the first time, the blond in the room. "-And Jude Harrison is here...You win!" she said, looking at Jamie, before running up and wrapping Jude in a hug.

"Hey, Zepp."

"Hey, Zepp? That's it? You go to Europe, live a crazy exciting life then pay a surprise visit and all you have to say is 'Hey, Zepp'?"

Jude was a little flustered. "Um...I like...your hair?" She had meant it as a statement and compliment, but her uncertainty caused it to come out as more of a question. When Zeppelin didn't look satisfied, she asked, "What do you want me to say?"

"Anything. Everything. I mean come on! You move to Europe, and you've been gone for months and I need stories! How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you don't tell me anything?"

"Hey!" Jamie looked slightly hurt and offended. "Why do you need to live vicariously? Am I not enough?"

Zeppelin looked over at him sweetly, "Of course you are, and I love you, but this basement and town have nothing on Europe. So…" she said, turning back to Jude, "let's hear it."

Jude spent the next half hour telling stories of her life in Europe. Zeppelin would occasionally sigh and say things like 'amazing' and 'no way!' When Jude finished her final story, Zeppelin let out a deep breath before dreamily adding, "It all sounds so amazing. I wish I could see it."

She stared off into space, sinking into dreams of Europe, but was snapped out of it by Jamie's sudden outburst, which involved raising his voice and placing a hand on her rolling chair, which caused it to turn. "You wanna go to Europe? Then let's go!"

Zeppelin chuckled, "No, its okay. Really, we've got excitement enough. I mean we have a label and a kickin' artist and-OH! That reminds me! I got Speid that gig in New York!" Jamie shot up immediately.

"Really?!" Zeppelin just nodded, too excited for words, and soon the two of them were jumping and dancing and making up really weird victory songs. Jude just chuckled at their weirdness, before grabbing yet another cookie.

After the screaming and excitement had subsided, Jude finally remembered her reasons for coming over. "I almost forgot. The boys are all over for a massive hang out. Kyle brought movies, Wally brought popcorn, and Speid brought meat, 'cause apparently its meat night." All three of them rolled their eyes at the ridiculous tradition. "So, you wanna come? Zepp too?"

Jamie and Zeppelin shared a look of understanding. "Yeah! Sure! But we can't stay too late. We're meeting with sponsors for Speid's tour in the morning." Jamie smiled proudly, while Zeppelin squealed in excitement.

"Wow, tour. Very impressive." Jude smiled warmly, "But, yeah. Come, stay as late as you can! It'll be a blast."

They all shared an excited smile, before Jamie reached over and turned off the sound board. "Alright then, let's get this party started."

Jude swung the door open. "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce, the one…the only - Jamie Andrews!! And the much _more_ lovely Zeppelin Dyer!!"

Cheers erupted in the living room and soon laughter followed as Jamie covered his heart in mock pain.

Jude just raised an eye brow at him. "What? She is." After a moment, he nodded his agreement before stepping forward to sit with the group.

Smacking hands and hitting knuckles, Jamie soon made himself at home. "So, guys. What's new?"

"New? Dude, you saw us this morning. What could possible be new?"

Jamie looked half seriously at Speid. "A lot can happen in a few hours. I mean-" he said, pointing to Jude, "just think a few hours ago, we didn't know Jude was back. But now-BAM! Here she is."

The guys all laughed at his logic, before Speid turned to Jude. "Speaking of, how long _have _you been back."

Jude looked timidly at the floor. "Um...a week."

"A week!" Kyle yelled. "And you didn't think to call and say, 'Hey, I'm jumping the big pond, see you soon'?" Kyle said, throwing in a British accent for effect.

"Okay, so A - I don't have a British accent. And B - Get over it!" Jude said, throwing a piece of licorice at him, adding to her point.

The guys all just laughed it off, and soon they were all invested in various conversations, completely ignoring the movie they had put on.

While the guys caught up, Jude moved to the kitchen, where Sadie, Kwest, Tommy, and Taylor were all involved in some conversation about something or another.

"So, you guys gonna watch the movie with us?"

All eyes turned to her at the sound of her voice.

"No. Sorry, Jude, but we gotta go. Actually we originally just came here to grab Sadie to go to the grocery store with us, because apparently I'm not capable of doing it on my own," Tommy said, shooting Kwest a pointed look.

"Oh, get over it. You know it's more fun with her around," Kwest responded.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Fun for you. But whatever."

Sadie laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation as she turned to Jude. "See why I have to go with? These guys are like five year olds when it comes to food shopping. Constant bickering. And they don't even live together."

Jude nodded in understanding. "That's cool. You go. Taylor and I will stay here with the guys. Just get us some good food."

Sadie smiled her approval, and all three of them walked out.

**A/N: Well? What did ya think? Do you know what I think? I think, you should push that cute little blue button and leave me a review telling me what you think.. wow, thats a lot of thinking. hmm...lol. but regardless, seriously, review!**


	12. Stop Following Misery's Lead

**A/N: Kay, guys. I'll keep this short. Sorry for the wait, but here is the next chapter. I know it's a bit of a filler but I will have the next chapter up by tomorrow to make up for it. I know it may seem like the last chapter and this one have been fillers, but they are needed to set up for some stuff coming up. Besides, a little down time from the main drama is always nice. The title is from the song 'Shine' by Anna Nalick. Oh and this chapter is un-betad, so I'll repost a betad one later, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting. So if you find any mistakes, let me know (along with what u liked) in your review. :)**

**Please review! Happy reading!**

**Chapter 12: Stop Following Misery's Lead**

When Sadie returned a few hours later, the gang was so highly invested in some random action movie, that it took her yelling four times to get their attention so they could help carry in groceries. When the final bag was emptied, they all ran to various cupboards, grabbing food and drinks before running back to their movie.

Sadie stared at them in shock, her hours of hard work was now being consumed, and that just wasn't right. "Jude!'" she shouted, a slight tone of anger evident in her voice, "If you plan on eating all the food I just bought, then _you _are gonna have to go buy more tomorrow. I'm not made of money here! Honestly." She grumbled the last word, as she grabbed a drink and headed upstairs.

Jude groaned and fell onto her back, chomping on another Cheeto for effect. The SME boys all laughed but quickly shut up at the death look Jude gave them. Taylor chuckled at this response, Zeppelin smiled and Jamie stayed silent, not moving. He knew better than to laugh, years of living next to Jude had taught him that you never laugh when she has just been called out on her crap; sadly, SME had failed to learn that lesson, and now they would have to pay the consequences. Jamie couldn't help but let a quick, small smile spread across his lips when Jude revealed her punishment.

"You think it's _so_ funny? Well, since you're eating the food too, you can come with tomorrow. So free up your day boys, we're going shopping." The guys all groaned. "Hey! Don't make me have you buy feminine products." That shut the guys up, and caused all the girls to burst out laughing, even Jamie chuckled quietly. Spied glared at him, but he just shrugged and went back to watching the movie.

------

The movie soon ended and conversations started up again. Taylor, Speid, Wally and Kyle were all busy at work picking another movie, while Zepp, Jamie and Jude watched their heated debates in amusement. Jude smiled as Taylor argued with Speid over the credibility of the old James Bond versus the new James Bond, something Speid would only allow with his close friends, anyone else would have been silenced immediately-the old one was the best; their argument just proved how quickly she had bonded to him and the other boys. It was like she had been apart of the group for years instead of weeks.

"She's a lot like you, ya know." Jame interrupted her thoughts, practically reading her mind. "That's why she's such a good fit."

Jude just smiled, it did make sense. "Ya really think?"

Jamie smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, except she's _way _cooler that you were at first." Jude glared at him, challenging him to prove his point. "You were all like 'ooh, Tommy. I love him, I don't. Boys bad, boy band, rapper. Chemistry final. Ah!" He said, mocking her in a really breathy voice.

"Hey! I don't sound like that!"

"No. But you think like that."

Jude just glared at him in defeat. "Whatever, I grew out of it."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure."

Zeppelin laughed to herself at the pitiful argument playing out in front of her. "Aw, Jamie. Leave her alone, she did feed you." Jude smirked and Jamie gave a half smile, "Fine."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me! The new Batman is in no way cooler than the new James Bond." Zeppelin, Jude and Jamie all snapped their heads up at the sound of Spied yelling.

"Oh no, Taylor just compared a secret agent to a superhero. This isn't gonna go well." Jamie murmured, while Jude nodded in agreement.

The yelling took off from there. Kyle and Wally watched in shock as Speid and Taylor stood up and started yelling at each other, pointing fingers, pacing around, throwing their hands up in exasperation, each word more pointed than the last.

"Well, clearly we're not gonna be watching another movie, and it is getting late, so I think we'll just head out now." Jamie said, nodding to the door. All three friends stood up and walked to the door.

"Well, thanks for coming guys. It's been a blast. I really missed you." Jude captured them each in a hug.

They all smiled and continued their way out, when Jamie suddenly stopped. "You know what, Zepp, why don't you go ahead and I'll meet you there? I just want to talk to Jude for a minute."

Zeppelin smiled from her place on the lawn, "Cool. I'll see you at home. I'm gonna go fax those execs in New York."

Jude and Jamie watched her walk inside the next house over, before Jamie tuned to Jude a look of complete seriousness on his face.

"Whoa, Jamie. What's up?" Jude asked with caution.

"It's Taylor, Jude. I'm concerned." Jude looked at him confused. "It's just, well, you have this need to help fix people, and it's sweet, it really is. But do you remember the last time." Suddenly, realization dawned on Jude. "I mean, it's just psycho ex-boyfriend, sudden new best friend. It's all sounding so familiar."

"Jamie." Jude stopped him in his tracks. "She is not Meagan. You haven't seen first hand what this is doing to her. I've seen the texts come in and the color go straight out of her face, it's real. Besides, after Meagan, I've learned to watch the details, and Taylor is anything but insane. Trust me on this." Jude grabbed the side of his folded arms, attempting to reassure him.

Jamie nodded, "Okay, if you're sure. But I'm just next door if you need to send out another message in a bottle."

They both laughed, "Yeah. We're just lucky Zeppelin was there last time to talk you through it. Otherwise, Sadie and I would still be living in the basement."

"Dang right!" The two looked up, surprised, to see Zeppelin standing on Jamie's front porch. "Jamie, I need your help with the fax machine and Glen from Boston wants to talk to you."

Jude nudged Jamie. "Go on, big-shot label producer, I'm not going anywhere." They hugged their goodbyes and Jamie sprinted across the lawn, while Jude walked inside.

------

It was a week later, and life was finally falling into a rhythm. Things with Taylor were just starting to settle down now that they had gotten her a new phone number, which they had decided to do after four days of repeatedly awful texting; but now, with a new number and twenty four hour surveillance, her ex hadn't even shown his existence in days. Which was a relief, because all their other efforts had failed miserably, like the restraining order-which couldn't happen because they didn't know where he was, and the desk guy at her apartment building hadn't reported anyone requesting to see her or even asking about her, which they weren't sure was good or bad. It was eerie, not knowing where he was or what he was planning, or even _if _he was planning, but Jude tried not to think about it, shaking the thoughts from her mind as she walked into G-Major with Sadie to pick up Taylor.

They stood at the receptionists desk, watching in amazement as Tommy and Kwest's exchanged secret signals, as a completely oblivious Taylor walked across the lobby, signifying who was on watch. Jude leaned to Sadie, who stood speechless, and whispered, "Wow. They've really gotten into this."

Sadie mumbled her agreement. "Yeah. I'll say so. I think they've seen to many spy movies." The sisters laughed at the visual of Tommy and Kwest in head to toe black, sneaking through a French embassy. "Maybe they should stick to the small stuff."

Jude laughed, "Yeah. Definitely." They stood watching a moment longer, before Jude finally snapped back into reality. "I'll go get her." She walked across the lobby and into studio B, knocking lightly on the door. "Hey Tommy. You're off the hook. Tay, let's go. We're gonna order Chinese at home."

Taylor squealed in excitement, yelling bye to Tommy, running past Jude and out the studio door. Jude and Tommy laughed at her excitement. "Thanks again, Tommy. See you tomorrow?"

"As always." They each smiled goodbye, before Jude turned to follow the two other girls out to the car. Halfway to the door, Jude stopped suddenly, turned on her heel and ran back to the studio.

"Hey Tommy?"

Tommy looked up in surprise. "Couldn't stay away?"

Jude rolled her eyes. "Oh, get over yourself. I was just gonna say that we have a tie to settle, a certain guitar duel to declare a winner of."

Realization showed in Tommy's eyes and a smirk spread across his face. "You sure you're up for loosing? I mean, I understand if you want to avoid that humiliation all together."

"Oh, pah-lease, you're just scared of loosing to a girl. So, unless you wanna forfeit and declare me the winner, then pick a time." Jude arched her eyebrows, challenging him.

Tommy matched her expression, challenging her right back. "Tomorrow, Harrison."

Jude nodded and turned right back around, running out to meet the girls at the car.

**A/N: Review please :) and I'll post tomorrow!**


	13. I Hold Onto The Night

**A/N: hey guys! Sorry for the wait. But to make it up to you, I'm leaving a really short author's note. So here it goes....The title is from the Taylor Swift song 'Forever & Always'. I don't own Instant Star, I only own the idea and original characters.  
Enjoy and please review!!  
Happy Reading!  
Sorry, I had to reupload this chapter. There was a stupid mistake that was bugging me. Thanks to Cullen-Evans-Tracker for pointing it out! :D**

**Chapter 13: I Hold Onto The Night, You Looked Me In The Eye**

Jude stood in her dream again, crying at the alter as Tommy rejected her, crushing all traces of hope and love that she had clung to. She just listened as Tommy continued the usual rant, her shoulder's slumped, her vision blurred by tears. Then suddenly all the sounds stopped. She looked up in confusion, Tommy was still carrying on, moving his hands, heavy with emotion, but no sound was heard. She watched him, bewildered, as the silence was filled with a different voice, a new voice. It called her, pulling her out of the dream and in an instant, Jude was staring up at her ceiling. She groaned in frustration. "Stupid, ridiculous dream. Leave me alone!"

"Um...Jude?" Jude, startled, looked up to her door frame where Taylor, clearly the voice from her dream, stood awkwardly.

Jude let out a quiet sight. "Yeah, Tay?"

"Ya okay?"

Jude let out a louder sigh. "I'm good...Bad dream."

"Oh-okay. Well, Sadie told me to come wake you up. She's busy making you a, and I quote, 'breakfast for champions', and you have a guitar duel to get ready for and a boy bander's butt to kick." Taylor said, throwing Jude's favorite jeans at her.

Jude's eyes opened wide in excitement. "I'm up!" She jumped out of her bed and Taylor left. Jude quickly threw on her jeans and lucky Van Halen T-shirt,grabbed her Joe Strummer guitar pick necklace and star ring and ran out the door and down the hall. The smell of breakfast smacked her in the face and she inhaled it deeply. 'Oh yeah. Today is gonna be good.' She thought, smiling.

----

Jude walked into G-Major like a supermodel walks on a runway. The wind blew all the girls' hair back as they opened the door, then they all strutted through the lobby, Jude in front, Sadie behind and on the left, holding Jude' s favorite guitar pick, and Taylor behind and on the right, holding Jude's acoustic guitar. All eyes turned and stared as they made their way to Studio B, where Tommy sat leaning back in his chair, exuding more cocky confidence than any man should ever have. The girls reached the door frame and Jude's eyes met Tommy's and never left, challenging his confidence. "Guitar." She demanded and held out her hand. Taylor quickly and gracefully obliged. With a firm grip on the neck of her guitar, Jude made her next demand. "Pick." Sadie set the pick in the palm of her hand and Jude's fingers closed around it. She put all her focus on Tommy. "Let's do this." Tommy nodded and Jude walked into the studio, closing the door behind her. In the moment her back was turned, Tommy rolled his eyes at her dramatics.

Jude turned back to face Tommy. "Ready to loose, pretty boy?"

"Got your tissues handy, diva?" Tommy retorted.

And with that the guitar duel started, while Sadie and Taylor watched the entire thing discretely from across the lobby.

----

Tommy cringed as he sat in the passenger seat of his most prized car, the Viper. "Just...be nice to her. Be careful. Take it slow. Watch for other cars. Push the clutch in before you-"

"Tommy, I know how to drive." Jude half laughed, half whined.

Tommy lowered his head and nodded. "Just...be care-"

"Tommy! If you say 'careful' one more time, I'm kicking you out of this car!"

Tommy's head shot up, his eyes opened wide. "You wouldn't."

Jude shrugged. "Our deal never said anything about you being in the car while I drive. Now, give me the keys."

Tommy reluctantly handed them over and Jude giddily started the engine. He groaned. "I knew this was a bad idea." Jude just rolled her eyes and squealed as she hit the gas.

They flew out of the parking garage and onto the main road, Tommy repeatedly groaning and cringing as Jude changed lanes. He just waited for her to slam on her breaks or clip another car or kill a bird, but surprisingly, Jude was a good driver. He shifted his gaze from her face to the road and back again, completely in shock as she smoothly maneuvered her way through traffic.

Jude caught sight of his shocked expression and laughed. "See Tommy, I'm a good driver." a smug 'I-told-you-so' look painted on her face.

Tommy looked at her, a slightly hurt look, evidence of a bruised ego, mixed with shock and relief on his face. Jude laughed and Tommy relaxed. He pulled out his sunglasses, slid them on and turned on the radio.

Blasting the music and laughing, the two drove their way across town.

-----

"Jude, where are we going?" Tommy asked after twenty minutes of what seemed like pointless driving.

Jude smiled, her face full of excitement. "You'll see."

----

Jude and Tommy stared ahead. They hadn't spoken a work since Jude had parked, they were both too lost in thought as they stared, mystified at the beautiful scene in front of them. She had parked the car at the edge of a small cliff, hidden between two large trees at a small turn off of the road. Behind those large trees was a small meadow, blanketed with soft grass and various wild flowers. Upon parking, Jude had silently opened her door, stepped out and sat on the hood of the viper, staring endlessly at the amazing view. The meadow extended to only about twenty feet before it reached the cliff's edge. Beyond the cliff was a spectacular view of the city. It appeared small and calm, when it was anything but, and stretched out into the horizon, where a sunset was glowing, streaming lines of orange, yellow and pink across the city and up the cliff.

After a few moments of meditation, Tommy joined Jude on the hood, took in a deep, relaxing breath and stared ahead.

"How did you find this place?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the rosy horizon in front of him.

Jude smiled at the memory. "I got lost once, about two years ago. Darius had scheduled me for a photo shoot, the fifth one in two weeks, and it was midterms and Speid was fighting with Kyle and Wally wouldn't stop bugging me about what he should buy his girlfriend, who, by the way, has hated me ever since that whole 'Denim Jackets of Hope' interview fiasco. And the fact that Wally thought that just because I'm a girl, I would have any insight into that grudge holding, bitter, insecure, little...." Jude was taken out of her rant by the sound of Tommy's chuckle. He shot her an amused look and she took a calming breath. "Anyways....needless to say, I wasn't happy. And I guess I had taken a few wrong turns, 'cause I ended up late and lost, and Darius just kept calling and calling. And after the twelfth call, I just couldn't take it anymore! So the next time Darius called, I pulled off the road, ran out of my car and literally threw my phone off a cliff; and, let me tell ya, it felt _good. _So after I calmed down, I turned around to go back to the car and found myself here." She held out her arms, motioning to her surroundings.

Tommy nodded in understanding, before he turned to Jude, a sly smile on his face. "So, that's really what happened when you came back to G-Major with no phone and no photo shoot?"

Jude smiled and nodded, clearly pleased with herself. "Yup."

"What about the story about the dog you narrowly missed, that ran off with your phone, which flew out the window when you were braking?"

Jude shrugged. "An amusing antidote?"

"More like a lie."

Jude laughed. "Yeah, that too."

Tommy laughed too. "So you found the place, then what?"

"Well, I made sure on my way home to pay attention to the roads so I could find it again. And now it's just become my place to think. My own little solitary haven. The place I go when my world crumbles."

"It really is amazing Jude. Who knows about it?"

Jude bit her lip nervously. "Actually...Just you." Jude paused and saw the shock on Tommy's face. "It's just.." She paused, and Tommy looked up at her. "I didn't think anyone else would understand."

The shock on his face quickly faded and he took in the thoughtfulness of the moment. "Thanks for showing it to me, Jude. I know it's really special to you."

Jude nodded and quietly said, "Yeah."

They stayed there for a while, talking and laughing and enjoying the view. After about a half hour the sun had set and the sky was turning gray. "We better go." Jude said, looking up at the sky.

Tommy nodded in agreement, noticing the approaching darkness. He reached out for the keys, but Jude just stared at him in disbelief. "Nope. I'm driving."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I"m giving the directions, no questioning me."

Jude got in the car, buckled her seat belt and put the car in gear as Tommy did the same. Jude turned the car around and pulled back onto the main road. "Where are we going?"

Tommy looked at the winding road ahead of them, a small smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. "I've got somewhere I wanna show you, too."

----

"Okay, turn here." Tommy said, pointing to a street on the right.

Jude complied and proceeded to follow his directions through three more turn. It wasn't until he told her to take one last right turn, that she finally figured it out. "Tommy! Seriously?" He just laughed and told her to keep going. They went around a few curves, pulled forward and parked in nearly the exact same place as they had three years ago. As they sat at the pier, Jude couldn't help but smile at the memory of it all. After a few moments of appreciative silence, Jude laughed.

Tommy looked over at her, quizzically. "What?"

She just laughed harder and shrugged. "Memories."

Tommy joined in with Jude's laughing. "Yeah..Memories. You hated me!"

Jude laughed and sighed. "Yeah..I did. And you thought I was just some winner of a loser competition who couldn't write."

"Hey! I never said you couldn't write. You just couldn't write without me."

Jude smacked his arm. "Whatever, jerk."

"Hey. I've had a direct role in each song."

Jude sarcastically laughed. "You do not!"

Tommy raised one eyebrow. "Wanna bet?"

She thought for a moment. "Skin."

"Inspired...at least half of it."

"How Strong Do You Think I Am?"

"Co-wrote and practiced with you."

Jude considered each of her songs carefully. Surely there had to be one he hadn't touched. Suddenly it hit her. "How I Feel." She said it with such confidence that anyone who didn't know better would have never doubted her.

But Tommy knew better. Oh boy, did he know better. "I guilted you back to that school where those kids helped you write it."

Jude sighed, defeated, and mumbled, "24."

Tommy looked over at her in shock. "Seriously?"

She grumbled. "Before you messed it up." She stared straight at the floor of the Viper, while Tommy stared at her in amusement, he knew she didn't really feel that way.

"You mean, fixed it? As in, sitting right over there." Tommy pointed to where they had sat so many years ago.

Jude glanced at where he was pointing, though she didn't need to. She already knew what he meant. "Whatever."

Tommy chuckled and soon it turned into full on laughter, which was very contagious. Jude started out quiet but soon, she too, was laughing as she stared at Tommy surprised, asking why they were laughing with her eyes.

Tommy saw the look she was giving him. He gasped for air. "They-played-your song-with a marching band."

"Shut up!" Jude laughed and screamed, and soon they were laughing and screaming over all the old memories

They were so wrapped up in the reminiscing, that they completely missed the other occupants that were invading on their special moment, each unaware of the other. Sasha stood at the edge of the pier, only a few feet from her car, which sat on the shoulder of the road. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were opened wide. She was shocked, to say the least, horrified even, to see her fiancé's ex not only sitting in the car she doesn't even get to ride in, but driving it; and, as if that wasn't enough, the two of them were looking awfully cozy.

On the other side of the pier, slightly ahead of the car, a paparazzi hid behind a bush, documenting the innocent moment of fun. Thinking of how much money he would get with each and every click of his camera.

**A/N: ~P.S.-Happy (late) Thanksgiving!! Oh and, please review! And this was un-betad. So feedback is especially appreciated! :) Thanks!**


	14. I Have To Block Out Thoughts Of You

**A/N: Sorry. It's been forever! College applications suck! The title is from Blue October's song 'Hate Me'. Happy reading!**

**Chapter Fourteen: I Have To Block Out Thoughts Of You**

Jude woke up with a smiled that hadn't left her face since the night before. She got up from the bed and wandered down the stairs, where Sadie and Taylor were making breakfast. "Morning all!" She said cheerfully said, as she hit the last step.

Taylor and Sadie each glanced at her, then shared an amused look. Jude glided into the kitchen, pulling out a chair and sat at the corner of the island, munching on a piece of toast that Sadie had set out, knowing Jude wouldn't wait till she was done cooking to eat.

Taylor looked over at Jude, then to Sadie. "Look at her, she's positively glowing!"

Sadie turned off the stove, removed the last pancake and turned around, leaning against the counter next to Taylor. "I know! She looks so well rested! Bet I know what she dreampt of." Sadie said, continuing their commentary on Jude, who sat in a blissful daze.

"I think she's still in the dream." The two girls laughed. "She's so far gone. I don't even think anything could get her attention. Not even-CHOCOLATE!" Taylor yelled, holding up a bowl of chocolate chips left over from cooking, but Jude didn't move. The girls laughed.

"Hmm..." Sadie looked around for the next test. "Or....BREAKFAST!" She waved the plateful of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and fruit in front of her, but still nothing. They laughed harder.

"Guitars!"

"Hamburgers!"

"SME!"

"Ice skating!"

"Television!"

"Microwave!"

"Steering wheel!" The tests got weirder as they went.

It was Sadie's turn, but she hesitated, thinking, then gasped in pleased surprise at her brilliant idea. Taylor looked at her quizzically. "I've got it!" She said in excitement, then turned toward Jude again. She leaned forward and whispered, teasingly, "Boys Attack."

Jude's head instantly shot up as her mind catapulted into reality. "Huh? What?" she said, looking around, confused.

Sadie and Taylor burst out laughing.

Jude looked at them confused. "What?" They only laughed harder. Jude stared at them for a moment, then muttered, "Whatever." and grabbed her full plate of food off the counter, which only made them laugh harder. "You guys are so weird."

The two girls composed themselves and they all sat down at the table for breakfast. As they were eating, Sadie leaned over and picked up the mail that she had brought in the night before and began sorting it. "Bills-bills-bills. Taylor, your latest issue of Seventeen." Jude stifled a laugh.

"Shut up! You know you secretly love it." Taylor playingly glared.

Jude scoffed and Sadie rolled her eyes and kept going.

"My issue of _Vogue_, Jude your latest tabloids and, oh look, more bills!" Sadie feigned excitement and each girl began thumbing through their newly arrived magazines.

Jude only got about four pages in, just far enough to read the latest celebrity arrests and talk show embarrassments, when suddenly two hands snatched it away from her.

"Switch!" Taylor yelled. Jude looked up in shock as Sadie excitedly reached for Taylor's _Seventeen_ and threw her _Vogue_ right in front of Jude, who unenthusiastically opened it and began flipping pages. She groaned quietly as Taylor excitedly read the headlines off the tabloid's cover.

"'Former '_Next Top Model_' Marries Judge'-saw that coming. 'Fight on Soap Opera Set'-naturally. 'Pop Star, Eden, Too Drunk to Perform'-"

"Ha!" Jude shot out. "Totally could've called that!" They all laughed.

Taylor continued. "Ooh! 'Old Love Rekindled'-I wonder who it is." Jude laughed, Taylor always was a sucker for romances. Taylor flipped the pages quickly, giddy in anticipation. She flipped the last one, slammed it down and stared at the page, shocked. "Oh..my..gosh! Oh my gosh!" She squealed. Sadie ran around the table to stand behind Taylor. Instantly she burst out laughing. Jude stared at them for a moment before her curiosity got the best of her. She stood, walked behind Taylor and looked over her shoulder at the large spread of pictures of her and Tommy at the pier and bold quotes from the article. Her eyes were wide, first in horror, then shock and finally in amusement.

She grabbed the magazine and laughed as she read the headline. "'Jude and Tommy _Pick Up the Pieces _Again." All the girls burst out laughing. Jude glanced through the quotes. "Wait! Listen to this one. 'Rekindled Love or Fling Affair?' Ha! Hardly!" She handed it back to Taylor, who kept reading, as the girls returned to their seats.

"Ooh-'Is Jude Harrison the Other Woman?'"

Sadie reached across the table and squeezed Jude's right cheek. "Aw. I'm so proud of my little home wrecker."

Jude rolled her eyes and pushed Sadie's hand away. "Shut up." She chuckled as she took another bite of her pancakes, glancing over at the tabloid spread Taylor had thrown back to her. Skimming the article she began to laugh. "Paparazzi. Honestly. Where do they get this crap?"

---

"Where do they get this crap?!" Tommy growled, dropping his head into his hands, as he read the article on the table in front of him. "Stupid paparazzi."

Kwest glanced up from the sandwich he was making. "Tom, chill. It's just a tabloid spread. Give it a few days and no one will remember it."

Tommy went from fuming to defeated. "If Sasha lets me live that long."

Kwest looked up at his distraught friend. "Well, she'll understand. Right? I mean, she knows how the paparazzi are, and that ridiculous stories are part of the territory, doesn't she?"

Tommy raises his head up slightly. "If only. This isn't a perfect world, and she isn't thick skinned, she doesn't just brush off _ridiculous_ things. I mean, she's not like Ju-" Tommy stopped short, realizing what he was about to say.

"She's not like who, Tom?"

"No one. She's just-just not like other girls."

"Uh-huh." Kwest said, knowing his best friend was trying his hardest to lie to himself. "So, what are you gonna do?"

Tommy leaned back in his chair. "Um. Give her chocolate, flowers, make her dinner and pray she doesn't see the article."

Kwest laughed. "Good luck with that, man." He patted him on the shoulder supportingly.

"Yeah, thanks." Tommy said, as he got up and the two went back to work.

---

"Jude, hurry up! I'm gonna be late!" Taylor yelled as she dug under the couch cushions for the car keys.

"Coming! You got the keys?"

Taylor flung a cushion over her shoulder and stood up, victorious. "Yup!" she yelled as she held them up in the air.

Jude ran down the hallway and down the stairs, attempting to put on her left shoe between steps. She finally got her shoe on and ran down the remaining steps, tripping on the last one and stumbling to regain her balance. Taylor laughed.

"You okay there?"

Jude laughed, out of breath. "Yeah, sorry. I had to search for my other shoe."

"Well, when Tommy kills me for being late, I'm blaming you."

Jude grabbed the keys from her and locked the door behind them. "Whatever you say."

---

Jude and Taylor ran through the doors of G-Major and surveyed the lobby.

"I don't see him." Taylor said. "Maybe he's late."

"See, I told you it'd be okay. No worries, he's not even here and-oh crap!" Tommy walked out of Studio B and into the lobby. "Hey, Tommy." Jude said cheerfully. Tommy looked up at Jude from across the room. He stared at Jude for a minute, a conflicted look on his face, then he continued walking into the kitchen. "Or, not." Jude said, slightly hurt and confused.

Taylor stared at the spot where Tommy had just stood. "Well, that was weird." Just then, Kwest walked out of the studio and into the lobby, focused on his text message. "Oh, Kwest!" He looked up and walked over to them.

"Hey, Tay. You're late."

"Oh, never mind that. What's up with Tommy?"

Kwest looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Taylor stared at him, annoyed. "I'm talking about him just barely giving Jude the cold shoulder. What the crap?!"

"He did what?"

Taylor rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Kwest, catch up, we're past the shock stage. Now tell me why."

"I-I don't know. He probably didn't see her."

"Bull crap he didn-" Taylor interrupted, but Kwest cut her off.

"Anyways. We're late. So let's go." Kwest nodded his goodbye to Jude and walked back into the studio.

"He's right, Tay. It doesn't matter. Go to work, Sadie will pick you up later." Jude hugged Taylor and pushed her toward the studio, waiting to make sure she was with Kwest before turning to leave.

---

A few hours later, Jude and Sadie walked into G-Major.

"She's probably still in Studio B." Jude said, pointing to the door. The two sisters walked over and quietly opened it. Inside, Tommy and Kwest were hard at work at the soundboard while Taylor sat on the couch in the corner quietly strumming a new melody.

Sadie snuck in behind the men and crouched behind Kwest. She leaned toward him and squeezed his waist. Kwest jumped and turned around, face to face with her. Jude and Sadie laughed at his startled expression. Kwest laughed it off and leaned in for a kiss, and Jude called to Taylor. "You ready for dinner, rock star?"

Taylor smiled. "Yeah! I'm starving. Let me just get my stuff." She ran from the room to get her guitar case.

"So Tommy, what's new?" Jude said, trying desperately to believe that Kwest had been right, and Tommy simply hadn't seen her earlier.

Tommy, still focused on his work, developed that same conflicted look on his face as earlier and shrugged.

"Cool, cool. So any big plans now that you're off work? 'Cause we're gonna get take-out and watch movies, you and Kwest could come if you guys want."

Tommy grabbed his notebook and stood up, looking past Jude. "Can't. Sorry."

Tommy walked out of the studio just as Taylor walked in.

"Nice chat." Jude mumbled. She looked up to see a confused Taylor and brightened her expression. "You good to go?"

"Yeah." Taylor said, still confused.

Jude turned back to Kwest. "So, you coming, or are you gonna be lame too?"

Kwest laughed and nodded. "What, and miss a Harrison movie night? I don't think so." He stood and grabbed his coat, wrapping his arm around Sadie's shoulders. "So, food?"

The girls laughed. "Sorry, Kwest. No sandwiches tonight. It's pizza night." Taylor threw over her shoulder as they walked out, Jude staring at Tommy, who had moved into Studio A, as they walked.

---

"Kwest what's with Tommy?" Jude asked halfway through the movie.

"Well. That was random. Where's this coming from?" He asked.

"It's just, I've been thinking about it for the last hour and I can't think of anything I've done to make him angry, and he's treating me like I'm the plague. It's just weird."

"Um. I don't know. I think he's just stressed from work and everything. I wouldn't worry about it." He lied.

Jude nodded, believing him for now.

---

As Sadie kissed Kwest goodbye, Taylor and Jude cleaned up the left over pizza. Taylor watched Jude, who looked troubled. "Jude, what's wrong?"

Jude snapped back into reality. "Hmm? Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to decide if I like the Meat Lovers or Hawaiian pizza more, you know, for next time we order."

Taylor shook her head. "Nope. That's not it. Now really, what's wrong?"

Jude let go of the box she was fiddling with and sighed, turning to face Taylor. "I don't know. It's just, Tommy and I were finally back into a good place and now he's being stupid! ugh!"

"You wanna know what I think?"

Jude mumbled her reply. "Probably not."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "I think you need a distraction."

Sadie walked in. "Who are we distracting?"

"Jude. So Sadie, put some popcorn in the microwave and Jude go pick out a movie. I'm calling in reinforcements."

Jude looked at Taylor confused as she picked up the phone until Taylor motioned with her had for Jude to start moving. As soon as Jude was gone, Taylor spoke into the phone. "Hey. I need your help."

---

Twenty minutes later, the coffee table was set with left over pizza, M&Ms, Swedish Fish and a bowl of popcorn. The girls all sat back on the couch watching the beginning of _Transformers_, when the doorbell rang. Taylor ran to the door and silently let the guest in. Jude shrugged off the oddness of the moment until she heard an all too familiar and entirely welcome voice.

"So, I hear someone is in need of a good old fashioned Spiederman-distraction." Spied declared, stepping into the door frame of the room.

Jude smiled brightly and ran to jump into his arms. "Always! But I could really use a Kyle-joke and a Wally-hug! Not that I don't love you and your distraction." She joked.

Spied rolled his eyes and laugh. "Your wish..." He began. "Boys, you heard the lady." The other two band mates stepped into view, carrying three duffel bags between them and guitars.

"My boys!" Jude said happily, pulling them all into a group hug.

---

The next morning, Kwest walked into work early to find Tommy already at the soundboard. "Wow, man. You're up early. What's wrong?"

Tommy didn't look up from his work. "Nothing, man. Just got a lot to do."

Kwest shook his head. "Nope. How about the truth?"

Tommy leaned back in his chair and let out a huge tension filled breath. "She saw it."

Kwest stood confused for a moment. "Who saw-Oh! Sasha! Crap man, how did she see it? Doesn't she hate the tabloids?"

Tommy rested his head on the back of his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Her freaking nightmare best friend and maid of honor showed her. Honestly, isn't there something in the girl code that prevents this. I swear there is, it goes right under 'Always say those jeans don't make her look fat' and just above 'Don't date her ex'."

"You know the girl code? Seriously?"

Tommy looked at him. "No. And that's hardly the point. The point _is_, her friend broke the rule and now I have to pay for it."

"So, she got mad?" Kwest said, sitting down.

"No, that's just it. She claims to be fine with it and says she understands, but something just doesn't feel right. It can't be that simple, can it?"

Kwest shrugged. "So, is this why you've been avoiding Jude?"

Tommy looked at him. "I'm not avoiding her."

"Tom..."

Tommy leaned his head back again. "Crap." he muttered.

---

"Do you really have to go?" Jude whined, giving Speid her puppy eyes.

He winced, always a sucker for that look. "Yeah. Sorry, dude. We've got studio time next door."

"I'll call Jamie, he'll let you off. Please?"

"No can do. This is the only time we could all get together for two weeks. But we'll come back and play."

Kyle and Wally nodded their agreement. "Bye, Jude! Thanks for the pizza."

"Whatever, boys. You know you can't stay away. You'll be back." She joked.

The guys laughed and walked out. Jude walked into the kitchen to begin cleaning up their mess. As she rinsed dishes, she called to Taylor, who was cleaning in the living room, "How did our mess get this big?"

"We invited the boys." Taylor said, slight irritation in her voice.

Jude laughed. "Oh, yeah. Huh, right. Well, I guess they're kinda worth it, but I say they should have to clean the next one."

The two girls laughed and continued cleaning. Five minutes later there was an urgent knock at the door. Jude smiled widely and ran through the living room, jumping over the pile of folded blankets Taylor had been working on. She slid to the door and swung it open.

"Couldn't stay away I see-" Jude laughed but stopped short, seeing the identity of the guest.

"Sasha." She said quietly, staring at the angry women on her porch. "Hi."

A/N: So, what did you think? Review please! Sorry it's been forever, but my application is so freaking close to being done and we've been redoing my basement but that'll be totally done on Monday, so I'll be able to update regularly soon! My goal is to upload a new chapter every weekend. Thanks for reading! Now go review! All reviewers get a cookie and a lollipop!


	15. The Road Outside My House

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the extra wait, my computer is down and I had bronchitis, so uploading was hard. But hear you go. I was in a hurry so I didn't read over it, so sorry for the mistakes. The title is from "Hum Hallelujah" by Fall Out Boy. Don't forget to review! Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Fifteen: The Road Outside My House Is Paved With Good Intentions**

"Jude." Sasha said, quiet and hostile.

For a moment the two women just stood on opposite sides of the door frame, staring at each other, until the silence became unbearable.

"What can I do for you?" Jude asked politely, yet with a level of defensiveness. Sasha just rolled her eyes and pushed past Jude. "Yeah, sure, come on in." Jude said sarcastically.

"Cut the pleasantries, Jude. We both know why I'm here, so why don't you just tell me what you're after."

Jude shut the door and turned to face the fuming woman. "First of all, you've never been pleasant, and second of all, I have no idea what you're talking about. So why don't you do us both a favor and cut this cryptic crap"

"You want me to cut the crap? Well now isn't that just the pot calling the kettle black? "

"Sasha. What do you want?" Jude said, in a tight voice, enunciating each word.

"What do I want?" She laughed to herself. "Oh boy, let's see. I want to be able to read a tabloid without hearing about my fiancé hooking up with his ex. I want to be able to see him at the end of the night and know the smile on his face isn't from seeing you. I want Tommy to be more focused on planning our wedding than planning what he's going to do with you that day. I want you to get on a freaking plane and go back to where you belong."

Taylor heard the yelling and came in to the entryway just in time to see Jude yelling back.

"Where I belong? I lived here first, this was all mine first, and in case you haven't noticed, you're in _my _house, so you're the one who isn't where they belong."

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm so very sorry I intruded. Doesn't feel good does it, having someone barge into your territory?"

"Your territory? Please, I'm hardly barging in on Tommy. Get over yourself."

"What do you call it then? Tommy is mine, now stay away!"

Taylor had had enough. "Sasha, Jude isn't stealing Tommy!"

Sasha turned to glare at Taylor. "You stay out of this!" She snapped.

Taylor turned on her heel and walked back into the living room, picking up her cell phone and dialing Sadie's number, while Jude and Sasha continued to yell.

-------

Sadie stared up at the selection of cereals, grabbing Jude and Taylor their sugar coated favorites and then debating which healthy cereal she would choose this week. She was in the middle of comparing the nutritional facts when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and answered. "Hey, Tay. Question, is it better to have more calories and less carbs or more carbs and less calories?"

"Sadie! You need to come home now!"

Sadie snapped out of her food thoughts, and switched into panic mode. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Sasha's here, and World War III is being waged in entryway."

Taylor was silent for a moment and Sadie could hear the yelling going on in the background. "I'm on my way." She slammed the phone shut, grabbed her purse out of the cart and ran down the aisle, abandoning her full cart behind her.

Minutes later, Sadie's car swung into the driveway, and she bolted up the driveway, listening to the yelling that could be heard all the way outside. She swung the front door open and stood in attack mode. "Sasha, get out of my house now!"

Sasha turned and rolled her eyes at Sadie, clearly not understanding the power behind the woman she was ignoring. She turned back to Jude and continued yelling.

Sadie was fuming. "Maybe you didn't hear me." She moved forward and grabbed Sasha's arm. "..house!" She pushed her out the front door. "And stay away from my little sister!" She yelled as she slammed the door.

Sadie turned around to see shocked expressions on Jude and Taylor's faces. "What?" She asked innocently.

Taylor burst out laughing. "Freak Sadie. _I_ was scared of you for a minute there." They all laughed.

Sadie looked at Jude. "You okay?"

Jude took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks. Things were getting ugly there." She looked around. "Well, I guess I better finish cleaning." She walked back into the kitchen, slightly lost in thought.

Sadie watched Jude walk away then turned back to Taylor. "Take care of her, I think she's a little bit in shock."

Taylor looked at Jude and nodded. "Okay, but where are you going?"

Sadie put her purse back on her shoulder. "I've gotta take care of something."

----

Sadie swung open the door and marched through the lobby of G-Major straight to Studio A. She pushed the door and it slammed against the wall inside the studio. Tommy swung around in his chair, startled.

"What the crap, Sadie?"

"Don't even start with me, boy bander. Now you listen to me. You keep your good for nothing, finger-pointing, anger-management deprived fiancé in line, cause the next time I have to throw her out of my house, she'll leave with more than just a bruised arm. Got it?"

Tommy looked at her confused then turned to his soundboard. He pushed the intercom button and leaned in to the microphone. "Guys, why don't you take ten?" Sadie looked up to see five guys in the recording booth, all looking at her stunned. They all nodded and walked out, still staring at Sadie.

Tommy exhaled loudly and turned back to Sadie. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your fiancé pushing her way into my house and yelling at Jude for no good reason!"

Tommy groaned and put his head on down on the soundboard. "She did what?"

Sadie's features softened at Tommy's reaction. She sat down in the chair next to him and began to explain. "Yeah. She started freaking out at Jude, telling her to stay away from you, yelling about the tabloid."

Tommy groaned again. "Sadie, I'm really sorry. She was wrong. I can't believe she would do that. I'll talk to her, trust me, she won't be harassing Jude any more."

"Thanks, Tommy, sorry to interrupt your band, and for yelling at you." Tommy nodded and Sadie turned to leave, she reached the door and turned around. "Oh, and Tommy? Stop avoiding Jude, it isn't fair to her."

"I wasn-"

"Tommy." She looked at him sternly.

"Yeah. Okay." He nodded and turned back to his soundboard, as Sadie walked out.

-----

Tommy walked into his house, shut the door and marched into the kitchen. Sasha was sitting at the counter, drinking her coffee as she read the newspaper. She looked up when Tommy walked in.

"Hey. What did you want me to meet you here for?"

Tommy set his bag down and stared at her. "Look, I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up. Leave Jude alone. She isn't a threat to you, she hasn't done anything wrong, so leave her alone. Got it? "

Sasha looked down, defeated. "Got it." She mumbled.

Tommy turned around to leave but hesitated. "Oh, and the next time you have a problem with something don't say it's nothing just so you can freak out at someone else."

Sasha nodded and Tommy walked out.

------

Sadie walked into the living room and looked around. Taylor was sitting on the couch reading, relaxing after cleaning the house. "Where's Jude?"

Taylor looked up and looked around. "Huh? Oh, she's in her room. I think that whole Sasha thing shook her up pretty bad. I think she feels like she's ruining Tommy's relationship."

Sadie sighed, just as there was a knock at the door. "Okay, I'm gonna go talk to her. Will you get the door?"

Taylor stood and walked to the door and Sadie ran up the stairs.

She knocked on Jude's door and cracked it open. "Can I come in?"

Jude looked up from her guitar. "Sure." She set the guitar down and made room for Sadie to sit next to her on the bed.

Sadie sat down and rubbed Jude's knee. "You doing okay?" Jude looked at her confused. "Taylor told me that you feel like your ruining Tommy's relationship with Sasha." She explained.

Jude leaned back against the wall. "Taylor." She whispered in annoyance. Sadie looked at her sympathetically. Jude sighed. "Yeah. It's just. I broke his heart, Sades, and now he's finally happy again and if today taught me anything, I'm in the way. I mean, his fiancé feels so threatened by me that she literally had to come and tell me to stay away. That's gotta mean something."

Sadie leaned back next to her. "You aren't ruining his relationship, trust me, and Sasha may be threatened by you, but that's her own fault and her own insecurities, don't let them ruin what you have going. You and Tommy are finally in a good place, don't run away."

Jude looked at her desperate. "You mean it?"

Sadie nodded. "Absolutely."

"Thanks, Sades." Jude leaned in and Sadie wrapped her arms around her.

Taylor knocked on the door and opened to see the sisters hugging, but they pulled apart upon her entrance. "Hey Jude, door's for you." Jude nodded, hugged Sadie again, stood up and walked out.

She walked down the stairs and stopped a few feet in front of her guest, and just stared at him.

Tommy looked at her apologetically. "Jude, I'm so sorry. For everything. I'm sorry Sasha yelled at you, I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of it."

Jude looked at him. "You're right. I didn't."

"Would it help if I told you I brought a present to help my groveling?"

"Couldn't hurt."

Tommy chuckled and pulled out a colorful bag filled with yellow tissue paper. Jude took it and lifted the paper out, revealing the present inside. She pulled it out and held it up, turning it around infront of her. "A jean jacket? A very small jean jacket? With _'Tommy Q' _written on it? Wait a minute, you got me a miniature replicate of your _Denimn Jackets of Hope _jacket? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I figured Little Q could use a jacket."

Jude laughed. "Thanks Tommy! I love it! I must say, as far as groveling presents go, a personalized stuffed bear jacket is pretty good."

"I'm glad."

The two kept talking and laughing, as Sadie and Taylor sat at the top of the stairs watching.

Taylor leaned in to whisper to Sadie. "You know they're made for each other, right?"

Sadie laughed quietly. "Yeah, I know. But they wouldn't be Jude and Tommy if they saw the obvious and took the easy route, but they'll get there, they always do."

Taylor leaned back, so she was upright. "I hope so."

"Yeah, me too. Me too."

**A/N: What did you think? Review!**


	16. Think Twice Before You Touch My Girl

**A/N: Hey guys!! So, I've looked forward to writing this chapter for while, but when it came to writing it, I was nervous, because I didn't want to mess it up. But I worked really hard on it, and I'm way proud. So let me know what you think! The chapter name is from the song "Think Twice" by Eve 6. Oh, and thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter! They were amazing and made me happy!  
Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Sixteen: Think Twice Before You Touch My Girl **

Jude ran from her bedroom and into Taylor's, crashing down on her bed. Taylor, startled, jumped around and stared at her. "Hey, Tay! I'm bored. Wanna watch a movie?"

Taylor laughed. "You seriously gave me a heart attack so we could watch a movie?"

Jude shrugged.

"Alright. Just let me finish putting my laundry away. What movie?"

"A nice, good old fashioned horror movie?" Jude looked at her, hopeful.

Taylor scoffed. "Yeah…no. Sorry. Not after last weekend, when we both had to sleep in Sadie's bed after watching _The Strangers. _Forget it."

Jude sighed. "Fine…Then a chick flick it is."

Taylor smiled in approval as she hung up her last shirt. "Okay…let's go!"

----

An hour later, the two girls were happily curled up on the couch, munching on popcorn, watching _How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days_. They both laughed as Kate Hudson "cried" because of Matthew McConaughey in a restaurant. Jude reached for the bowl of popcorn, taking it right out of Taylor's hands.

"Hey!" Taylor whined.

Jude smirked as she reached her hand in, but the smirk faded when it came out empty. Jude groaned and handed the bowl back to Taylor.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "And you're handing me an empty bowl, why?"

"So you can go refill it."

"Why me?"

"Because you finished it, so you get to refill it. Those are so the movie night rules."

Taylor groaned as she took the bowl and stood up. "Fine." She walked off toward the kitchen. "Pause the movie for me."

Jude reached for the remote, paused the movie and leaned back in her spot.

"Thank you!" Jude yelled.

"Yeah, yeah." Taylor sarcastically replied from the kitchen.

After a few moments of silence, Taylor's phone jingled. "Jude, will you get that for me. It's a text message."

"Yup!" Jude called as she reached across the couch for the phone and flipped it open. Taylor came back in, munching on the fresh bowl of popcorn. "Who was it from?" She stopped walking when she saw Jude frozen staring at the phone. "Jude?" A trace of panic filled her voice. "Jude!"

Jude's head snapped up. "Where's my phone?" She said, turning in every direction. "Sadie!" Jude yelled up the stairs and continued to look. "Where is it?!" Panic fully formed in her voice. She finally spotted it on the side table next to her and lunged for it. Sadie came running down the stairs full force as Jude struggled to dial, her hands shaking.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jude handed Taylor's phone to Sadie and continued to attempt at dialing her phone. Sadie read the text message and the color drained from her face. "Call Tommy. Now."

Jude sighed, frustrated. "I'm trying!"

Taylor stood frozen. "Someone really needs to tell me what is going on. Now!"

Sadie looked up from the message, sympathetically. Taylor set down the bowl and walked over, reading the text message out loud from over Sadie's shoulder. "You always did laugh at that stupid part. Ridiculous movie…. Well, you won't be laughing for long, none of you will."

Taylor's knees gave out as the reality of the situation set in. Sadie caught her and helped her to the couch. "How-How did he find me? How did he get my number? I had finally gotten away from him! How did this happen?!" She broke down crying into Sadie's shoulder as Jude finally got the right number dialed.

-----

Tommy walked across the G-Major lobby. He answered his phone as he entered Studio B. "Hey, Jude. What's up?"

"Tommy! You-you really need to come over here now."

Tommy was startled by the panic in Jude's voice. "What's wrong?"

"It's Jason. He's-he's found her. Can you just come over, please?"

"I'll be right there. Lock the doors and set the alarm. I'm on my way."

Tommy shut his phone and grabbed his keys and threw Kwest his coat. "We've gotta go, man. Now!"

Kwest looked at him curiously. "Why? What's up?"

"Jason." Tommy called over his shoulder as he left the studio.

Kwest bolted up and followed Tommy out.

----

Twenty minutes later, the girls were all huddled together on the couch, a trophy and two guitars nearby as weapons. They had continued the movie in an effort to calm themselves down, but no one was watching it, each girl was too preoccupied with hiding their panic. Sadie sat with one arm around Jude and one arm around Taylor, protectively holding onto them. A noise outside drew everyone's attention to a front window. They all stared in horror as the noise grew louder, moving from one window to another, all the way to the front door. When someone pounded on the front door, Jude jumped and Taylor whimpered. Sadie held onto Taylor tighter, as Jude picked up her guitar, held it like a bat, and moved to the front door.

"Wh-who is it?" She called, stuttering.

"Jude, it's Tommy. Open up."

Jude let out a huge sigh of relief, set down her guitar and threw open the door, jumping into Tommy's arms. "Thank goodness you're here!"

Tommy wrapped his arms around her and walked into the house, followed by Kwest, who shut and locked the door. Sadie walked forward, set the alarm and leaned into Kwest who embraced the hug. Tommy and Jude moved to the couch and sat next to Taylor, Jude looping arms with her. It was silent for a moment as everyone took in the reality of the situation. Finally, reality clicked back into place.

"Did you call the police?" Tommy asked, looking around the room.

Sadie leaned up from Kwest. "I already did. They said they would send someone over as soon as possible, but all their units are out dealing with parties. The operator said the day after Valentine's Day is the busiest because all of the parents are still out of town."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, makes sense. So, what exactly happened?"

Jude leaned forward and picked up Taylor's phone off of the coffee table. "Well, we were watching _How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days_ and we were laughing pretty hard and when Taylor went to refill the popcorn she got this text," She handed the phone to Tommy, "and so I read it and then I called you and Sadie called the police."

Anger grew within Tommy as he read the text; he handed the phone to Kwest and tightened his grip protectively on Jude. "Okay, Kwest and I are gonna stay until the cops can come and check this all out. We looked around the house before we came in and didn't see anything."

Jude turned her body to look at him angrily, smacking him hard on the shoulder.

"What?" He looked at her shocked and confused.

"You practically gave us all a heart attack rustling outside the window. Honestly." She groaned as she leaned back into her spot.

Tommy rolled his eyes, but then softened his features when he realized she was truly scared. "I'm sorry, Jude. I was just looking out for you."

Jude sighed and leaned back into his hug. "I know, it's just, this whole thing is really…really..."

Jude struggled for a word to appropriately describe the horror, frustration and powerlessness she was feeling. Tommy understood and shushed her attempts. Pulling her closer and rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "I know, I know. It's okay. Kwest and I aren't gonna let anything happen."

Taylor leaned forward. "Promise?"

Kwest looked up. "Promise."

Taylor seemed reassured by that and everyone settled in onto the couch. Tommy and Kwest went and found weapons to use, just in case, Tommy using a mettle bat, and Kwest, a golf club. They resumed the movie and all tried their hardest to distract themselves. After a half hour of undisturbed silence, Jude figured Jason had been scared off by Tommy and Kwest and left, so she called the police and canceled her complaint, but Tommy and Kwest insisted on staying for a while longer, just to be sure.

After another half hour, everyone was beginning to fall asleep. Sadie was curled up on a dosing Kwest's chest, fully asleep. Taylor had her arm still looped with Jude's and had let her head fall back onto the couch in her sleep. Tommy still had his arm around Jude, who was asleep on his shoulder. Tommy struggled to keep his eyes open, his eyelids falling harder with every second until he finally succumbed to his body's desire and closed them, drifting off to sleep. Tommy eyes stayed shut for a few minutes until the sound of glass shattering filled the house. Tommy and Kwest both shot up, startling each girl awake. Jude blinked hard, looking around, Taylor and Sadie sat confused and stared up at the fully alert men.

Tommy looked at Kwest. "You heard that?"

Kwest nodded. "The kitchen."

Tommy picked up his bat and Kwest grabbed his golf club.

Jude became more awake by the moment. "What's going on?" She demanded.

Tommy stayed facing the kitchen, his back to Jude. "We heard a noise. Stay here. Kwest and I will go check it out."

Jude gulped and nodded; reaching for Sadie and tightening her grip on Taylor. The girls all huddled together on the couch in silence, their heavy breathing the only sound in the house. A few silent seconds passed, each feeling like an eternity, before it was too much for Jude to take. She tightened her grip on the girls next to her and yelled out for Tommy. After another silent second passed, Jude yelled for him again.

"Tommy!"

She took a deep breath, trying to reassure herself as the silence passes, just as she was about to scream for him again, the sweetest sound interrupted her panicked silence.

"Jude, we're fine. It looks like a tree branch just smashed a window. There's a pretty bad storm going on outside."

All the girls exhaled in relief. "Okay." Jude called to him.

"We're just gonna check every room, just in case."

Sadie looked toward the kitchen in panic. "Be-be careful."

Kwest poked his head around the corner and smiled reassuringly at her. "Always."

Tommy and Kwest's muffled voices could be heard as they went from room to room discussing different scenarios for the broken window. The sound of their voices soothed the girls and they all sank back into the couch, still clinging to each other like their sanity and lives depended upon it.

Tommy and Kwest's voices grew quieter as they walked further down the hallway, away from the girls.

Sadie looked at Taylor. "You doing okay?"

Taylor rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I'm doing just great."

Jude looked at her, shocked by her attitude.

Taylor looked back at Sadie, apologetically. "Sorry, it's just…I thought I had finally gotten past all of this. To be thrown back into it is kind of a shock. I just wish he would leave me alone, fall off the planet, die in a car accident, anything but torture me like this."

Sadie and Jude nodded in understanding.

"Now, that's no way to talk about the love of your life."

Each girl froze at the sound of his sinister voice. Sadie turned around first, then Jude, to see him standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Taylor refused to look up, she already knew he was there; she wouldn't dignify his behavior by responding. He didn't get to see her eyes, not anymore.

Jason strutted from the kitchen, each step a threat, until he stood still in front of them. His tall body toned, his blond hair cut short and his brown eyes as cold, dark and raging as the storming night sky outside.

He stared at Taylor, who still refused to meet his gaze and began to speak, his voice laced with a tone of mocking. "Now, Tay. Is that any way to treat your boyfriend?"

"Exboyfriend." She murmured, sick of playing the victim.

"Don't say that! You know we're meant to be together, and soon we will be." He snapped.

Jude tightened her grip on Taylor and stared at Jason, as he continued to rant.

----

Tommy and Kwest made their way down the upstairs hallway, finished with their check and talking casually. As they grew closer they could hear the unfamiliar male voice from down the stairs. They snuck down the stairs and into the kitchen, staying out of view while they could hatch a plan.

Tommy wanted to bolt in and tackle him, but once Kwest saw Jason pull out the gun, he knew they needed a more sensible plan.

----

Jason stared at Taylor with such venom in his eyes that anyone else would have shrunken away on the spot, but Taylor refused to break down in front of him. _Not this time. _She told herself.

She held her ground, staring at the wall past him, her arms folded, with Jude's hand still wrapped around one arm. Her newly found courage only infuriated Jason more.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He yelled. "Or do you need another lesson?" He said, pointing the gun at her. She didn't as much as flinch as she kept staring at the wall. "Oh, I see how it's gonna be; looks like we need another method of teaching. So you're not worried about your own life anymore, huh? How about the life of your new family?" He moved the gun to the side, pointing first at Jude then at Sadie. "Hmm…Eeny, meeny miny, mo." He taunted, moving the gun back and forth, slowly. Panic filled Taylor's eyes but she tried to stay strong, knowing he was just after a reaction, and she didn't want to give in if she had a choice. "C'mon. These are the girls who took you in, treated you like a sister, and even inflicted pain upon themselves when moving your stuff." He shot a humorous look at Jude and Jude's eyes widened in horror, realizing that he had been watching this entire time. "They've done so much for you, are you just going to let them die?"

Taylor flinched slightly, but regained control.

"I have no problem killing them. As far as I'm concerned, they're the ones who took you away from me! If it wasn't for them, you'd be with me now! So maybe I should kill them!" He said as he cocked the gun and pointed it at Jude.

Taylor's eyes widened in horror as she finally looked at him. Satisfaction crossed his face as he stared into her eyes. "There's my girl."

Taylor tightened her jaw. "I'm not your girl." She said through clenched teeth.

Jason was thrown off by her forcefulness. He pointed the shaking gun at Jude once more. "You're gonna pay for that." He spat as he began to tighten his finger around the trigger.

"You really don't wanna do that, man."

All four of them looked up, shocked, to see Kwest standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Trust me, _man_, I really, really do. She's the problem, she kept Taylor for me, filled her mind with lies. She's responsible, and she needs to pay."

Kwest took a cautious step forward. Jason turned quickly, pointing the gun at Kwest. "Not another step."

Kwest put his hands up in surrender. "Yeah, sure, man. Just put the gun down and we'll talk about this."

"Talk about this?" Jason laughed. "I'm more interested in action than talk, if you catch my drift." He turned the gun back to Jude.

"Jason, don't do this. They haven't done anything wrong. You want your revenge, then fine. I'm right here, take it." Taylor stood up and put her arms straight out, exposing her torso.

He turned the gun to her. "Maybe I should."

He moved around the couch, keeping the gun aimed at Taylor. "Sit." He demanded. When Taylor hesitated he moved the gun back to Jude until she hurried to her former seat. "That's better."

As he stood behind the couch he put the gun to the back of Taylor's head. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the coming darkness. She grabbed Jude's hand for comfort and squeezed it with all of her might. Jason cocked the gun once again and Jude lost all control.

"No!" She screamed in desperation.

Jason smiled to himself. "Well, if you wanted to go first all you had to do was ask." Taylor's eyes shot open and she stared at her best friend in shock.

"Jude?" She whispered.

Jude shushed her. "It's okay." She gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. Sadie held onto Jude tighter but stared at Kwest, begging him to do something. He shot her a look, and she knew he had a plan.

Just as Jason put the gun to the back of Jude's head, an idea popped into Taylor's head.

"Jason, you don't have to do this. If you just let them go, I'll go with you. We'll have the life you always wanted. Remember? We used to talk about it; the white picket fence and the two dogs and the nice house where I would always have dinner ready when you came home. Remember the garden I was going to have and the boat you were going to buy? We can have all of that. I love you, Jason. We can have our dream, but we can't do it if you're in jail. So let them go, so we can go." She said it with such sincerity that Jason found himself questioning the truthfulness of her statement. His eyes wandered to look at the back of her head as he considered it.

This was just the distraction Tommy needed. He lunged from his hiding place around the corner, running full force and swung with everything he had in him, the bat connecting with Jason's back. Jason crumpled to the ground and lay motionless for a moment. Jude jumped up and over the couch and ran to Tommy. As she grabbed onto his arm, she stared down at the motionless man on the floor. She turned into Tommy and hugged him, as a few tears fell down her face. He wrapped one arm around her, his other still holding the bat, and rested his head on top of hers. "It's okay. It's over. You're okay." He soothed.

Jude nodded and took a step forward to hug Taylor, who was standing over Jason. Taylor took a few steps back and hugged Jude before moving behind Tommy, her body beginning to shake. Sadie and Kwest both moved to hold onto her and Jude stared at her sympathetically, while Tommy looked over his shoulder at her, with a look of concern in his eyes. They all focused on Taylor as she continued to finally break down until a single gunshot filled the house. Tommy's head whipped back around to see Jason standing in front of him, and behind a shocked Jude. Tommy stepped forward and as Jason shot again, missing Tommy by inches. Tommy swung, this time hitting Jason in the head and knocked him to the ground, undoubtedly unconscious. Tommy shifted his gaze from the frozen body to Jude, who was standing, eyes wide, staring down at her chest. Tommy looked at her confused and followed her gaze. As she looked up to meet his eyes, he saw the small circle of red forming on her shirt, quickly covering her entire left shoulder. Jude's knees buckled. Tommy lunged forward to catch her and Sadie screamed in horror. Kwest dialed 911 as he moved to Tommy's side, kneeling down and applying pressure to the gunshot wound as Tommy stared into Jude's eyes. He held her tight, trying to keep her awake.

"Jude, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I thought he was unconscious. I thought I had gotten him the first time. I'm so sorry. Stay with me Jude. Stay with me."

Jude looked into his eyes and whispered, weakly. "I love you." She let out a shallow breath as her eyes rolled back into her head.

As the house filled with silence, all that could be heard were the approaching sirens and the sound of Tommy's sobs as he lifted her to his chest. "Stay with me." He whispered.

-----

-----

**A/N: So, bad news…I'm going to be taking a hiatus for about six months….KIDDING! I'm not that rude. Lol. I'll have a new chapter up by next week. Sorry to leave it on a cliff hanger, but I couldn't resist. Please review and let me know what you think and any ideas you have about what's coming up and what you want! Thanks! Now, go…REVIEW!!!**


	17. I Won’t Try to Philosophize

**A/N: I'm SO sorry! My computer crashed! But here it and it's nine pages long! I have work off all week, so I'll post again before the weekend! Review, and thanks for all your reviews so far! Especially last chapter, they were amazing! The title is from "Hero/Heroine" by Boys Like Girls.  
Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Seventeen: I Won't Try to Philosophize, I'll Just Take a Deep Breath and I'll Look in Your Eyes**

Tommy sat there, holding Jude's limp body to his chest. Kwest grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse.

"Tommy, her hearts stopped! Tommy, she needs CPR!"

Tommy instantly lowered her to the ground and began pounding on her chest, keeping the same quick rhythm. He continued, completely oblivious to the sirens approaching or the paramedics that ran through the door. It wasn't until Kwest physically pulled him away from Jude that his surroundings became apparent again.

He sat there on the floor, staring at her body as the paramedics assessed her condition.

"Palmer, I can't get a pulse, start compressions." The large, blond paramedic called to his partner as he ran to get the gurney.

Brandon Palmer, a younger, brown haired man, continued compressions as he called to Kwest. "What happened?!"

"We had an intruder, we thought he was unconscious but when we turned our backs he shot her. He's behind the couch; Tommy knocked him out with a baseball bat."

Palmer nodded and yelled to his partner. "Richards call for a back up team, we've got another man down!" He turned to Kwest. "I need you to check him for a pulse." Kwest nodded and walked behind the couch, he knelt down and felt his neck.

"Yeah, he's got a pulse."

"Is he breathing?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Okay. He should be fine until backup arrives." A few moments later Richards reappeared with a gurney. "Richards, we need to get her to a hospital now! She's losing a lot of blood!"

The partners moved together until Jude was securely attached to the gurney and inside the ambulance. The police and the second group of paramedics arrived just as they were loading her in. Kwest and Taylor went to explain the situation while Sadie started to climb into the ambulance, followed by Tommy.

"Whoa, you can't go in there. The police need your statement." Richards said as he placed a hand firmly against Tommy's chest.

"Like heck I can't. I'm going with her!" Tommy yelled back and tried to move past him, but Richards stood in his way.

"I'm sorry, but the police need your statement and only family can get around that rule."

Sadie stood up and leaned out of the ambulance. "It's okay. Let him come, he's the love of her life."

Sadie had said it to Richards but was looking into Tommy's eyes, with a soft expression that said, "It's true."

Sadie looked back down at Richards and he nodded. "Fine." He moved out of the way and climbed into the driver's seat.

They drove in silence as Palmer continued to do compressions; finally they pulled up to the hospital.

Sadie and Tommy jumped out of the way as Richards pulled her out and pushed her inside with the help of the waiting doctors, while Palmer, straddling her, continued to do compressions.

"Eighteen year old, female, single gunshot wound to the left shoulder. CPR was administered in the field, massive blood loss, down for approximately fifteen minutes." Richards yelled to the doctors. The doctors pushed her into an operating room; they helped Palmer off of her and a nurse continued compressions as they prepped her for surgery.

As Tommy and Sadie walked in the front doors a nurse confronted them. She looked at Tommy. "Sir, are you hurt?" Tommy looked at her confused until the nurse moved to touch his shirt. He looked down at the large blood stain, still wet.

"No." He said, with a broken voice. "It's not mine."

The nurse nodded sympathetically and led them into the waiting room.

Palmer reappeared a few moments later. A nurse was handing paperwork to Sadie as Tommy talked to a nurse next to her. He reached Richards and together they walked out. As they reached the door, Sadie called out.

"Palmer, Richards!" They turned, surprised. "Thank you. She wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you."

They each nodded and gave a small smile. Palmer looked her in the eyes. "You really owe your thanks to him." He nodded toward Tommy. "If he hadn't done CPR before we got there, we wouldn't have had anything to work with."

Sadie placed a hand on Tommy's shoulder and looked down at him. "Thank you." She whispered. Tommy placed his hand on top of hers and nodded. She gave one last smile to the two paramedics as they turned to walk out before she sat back down and continued on the paper work.

Sadie listened to the nurse as she filled out the paperwork. "She's lost a lot of blood, so they've taken her into surgery. They can't know what damage was done until they open her up, but she got here quickly so the odds are in her favor. A doctor will come out soon and update you on her condition." Tommy nodded and mumbled a thank you as she walked away.

----

Twenty minutes later, Kwest and Taylor ran through the doors. They paused, to look around the waiting room for their friends. Sadie looked up and saw Kwest looking around. Their eyes met and Sadie stood up and walked over to him, neither saying a word, as she wrapped herself in his arms.

He held her to him for a moment, completely still. Then, he rubbed her back and she looked up into his eyes. He rubbed a few fallen tears off of her cheek with the pad of his thumb and kissed her forehead. Together they walked back into the waiting room, all four sitting together in a row.

----

An hour later, Tommy and Sadie had finally finished giving their police reports, the police had left, except for the single guard outside of Jason's room and the few outside the front doors holding the paparazzi back. They had done everything they could and now all that was left was to wait.

----

After another hour the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon. A doctor entered the waiting area, he glanced around, mumbled to a nurse, who nodded toward Sadie, and slowly walked forward with slumped shoulders. The doctor let out an exhausted sigh and slid his scrub cap off as he walked. "Miss Harrison?" Sadie's head shot up and she instantly stood up, signaling him to continue. "The bullet did quite a bit of damage in her left shoulder. It shredded its way through a muscle, barely missed her jugular then lodged itself in the bottom of her collarbone. We were able to reconnect her muscle, patch up the sources of the bleeding and remove the bullet. There were a few complications during surgery due to blood loss, but she's stable and being wheeled into recovery as we speak. We are going to keep a close eye on her, the next twenty-four hours are crucial, but barring any complications, and with physical therapy, she should be good as new."

Sadie nodded and let out a sigh of relief. "Is she awake? Can I see her?"

"She isn't awake yet, she'll wake up on her own time table, but you can all see her."

"Thank you." Sadie said sincerely as they followed Jude's doctor to her room.

As Sadie walked in, she stopped breathing at the sight of her once lively and strong sister laying weak and helpless, hooked up to a half dozen machines. She let out a silent sob and turned into Kwest's chest. A pained look plagued Tommy's face, his heart breaking at the sight. Taylor squeezed Tommy's arm in an attempt to comfort him, but it proved useless. He walked up to her bedside and pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, pulled a chair forward and sat next to the head of the bed, squeezing her hand. "It's okay, Jude. We're here." He reassured softly. Taylor walked forward, sat next to Tommy at Jude's feet and placed a comforting hand on her leg. Sadie pulled herself together and walked with Kwest to the other side of the bed. Kwest sat across from Taylor and Sadie leaned forward, kissing Jude's pale forehead. "Hey, Sweetie." She said, quietly. She sat across from Tommy and they all sat back and gave Jude every ounce of strength and support they had in them.

----

Eight hours later, everyone was getting restless. Tommy was becoming frustrated at the lack of results or any response from Jude. He had begun to pace back and forth, ranting about the uselessness of doctors. Sadie shot Kwest a desperate look and he stood and grabbed Tommy by the arm.

"Hey, Tom. Let's go get everyone coffee." He pulled him down the hall, despite his obvious objections.

Sadie let out a huge sigh and stood. "Tay, I'm gonna go talk to her doctor. You okay staying alone?"

Taylor nodded. "Yup. I'm good." Sadie walked out and Taylor stared at Jude's peaceful face; she bowed her head trying to fight off the tears. She stuttered as the tears came. "I-I'm sorry." She whispered, barely audible. She puts her hand back on Jude's leg, looking up at her motionless body. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I brought this into your life. This is all my fault, I should be the one lying in that bed, not you. You have been amazing and helped me so much. This shouldn't have happened to you. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." She broke down, placing her face down and into the blankets. As the tears ran, she kept repeating the same thing over and over again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Sadie reentered the room and paused for a moment to take the scene in.

"I don't blame you, and neither would she. This wasn't your fault." Taylor looked up, complete grief covering her tear stained face. Sadie walked quickly and pulled her up and into a hug. Taylor sobbed into her shirt as Sadie rubbed her back.

"It should have been me. It should have been me." She kept repeating it over and over again as Sadie tried to calm her down.

"Shh-Sweetie, no. No. No. Shh…She'll be okay. It's all going to be okay. Shh."

As Taylor continued to sob and blame herself, Tommy and Kwest returned with four coffees. They stood shocked as they listened to Taylor. "It should have been me."

Tommy sighed, stacked the two coffees he was holding on top of the Kwest's and stepped into the room. "It's not your fault." Taylor looked up at him pitifully. "And you know Jude wouldn't let you think that, much less say it."

Taylor pushed out of Sadie's arms and marched angrily toward Tommy, who to a step backward in surprise.

"How can you say that, Tommy? If I hadn't brought this into her life, if I had stayed strong and not broken down at the end, you would have known he wasn't unconscious and he wouldn't have been able to shoot Jude!" Tommy stared at her in shock, not because he blamed her, but because he blamed himself. Taylor shook with emotion "See it is my fault." She whispered, with anger on her tongue. After a moment of silence, Sadie opened her mouth, but it wasn't her voice that protested.

"It wasn't your fault." All heads turned and 4 pairs of shocked eyes stared at Jude as she slowly and weakly tried to push herself up. After a moment she groaned and felt around for the controls to the bed. She raised it up a few inches and began to push herself up again. "Besides, I was bound to end up here sooner or later." She laughed weakly.

Sadie stared at her incredulously then let out a laugh intertwined with a sob and scooted into the bed next to her, wrapping her arms around Jude and pulling her close. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

Jude tried to laugh but gasped in pain. "Sadie, you're hurting me." Sadie stared at her in shock as Jude stared up at her, her face scrunched in mock pain, then burst out laughing as she let go over Jude. Sadie's contagious laughter seemed to cut the tension in the room and everyone shuffled around to reclaim their seats.

Jude groaned as she attempted to resituate, and Sadie placed a hand on her back to help support her weight. "So, what happened anyways? Last thing I remember Jason was on the ground, unconscious," She shot Tommy a proud look, but he only looked ashamed, she looked puzzled but continued. "I remember hearing a loud pop and then the next thing I know, I'm waking up in a hospital, with a painful shoulder, and having to tell you guys what's what, as usual." She smirked and Sadie rolled her eyes. "So....someone wanna fill me in here?" She looked around trying to find answers but everyone avoided eye contact.

Sadie stuttered. "Uh-well-okay, so-" She hesitated briefly and Tommy's low-steady voice filled the room.

"He wasn't unconscious, I was wrong." He shook his head as he shifted his gaze from the wall to the floor. He let out a long, tension-filled sigh. "He shot you."

Jude looked shocked. "Oh." She knew she should say more, but her mind was blank. She opened her mouth to voice her thoughts that hadn't yet formed. Luckily, just then her door opened, relieving her of the pressure she had been under.

Her doctor walked in reading what she assumed was her chart then looked up at Jude. "Good evening, Miss Harrison, I heard you were awake." He smiled pleasantly. "I'm Dr. Castleton. How are you feeling?"

Jude smiled back. "Honestly? I'm in a little bit of pain; and these pains in the butt certainly aren't helping." She shot a playful glare at all of them and laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm doing good. The details are a little hazy, though."

The doctor nodded and flipped back through her chart. "Well, a bit of haziness is to be expected after the ordeal you've been through, it'll all come back in time, but physically you seem to be healing quite nicely. You were shot in your left shoulder, just below your collar bone. You lost a lot of blood and your heart did stop, lucky for you, this guy here rocks at CPR." He patted Tommy on the shoulder. "We rushed you into surgery and struggled a bit repairing the damage, but all was fixed, and barring any complications, you should be able to go home in just a few days." He examined Jude's bandages, smiled and left.

They all stood there powerless to do anything other than smile. Sadie, Tommy, Kwest and Taylor were all this mystified by Jude as she sat laughing and reminiscing as if nothing had ever happened and they were home on her couch instead of sitting around a hospital bed.

"I'm gonna give Big Lou the hardest time for not being around when I get shot! I mean, come on! I expect him to tap into those psychic powers and know everything ahead of time. Seriously, what kind of body guard can't do that?" Everyone laughed as she continued talking about everyone and how she fully expects presents from everyone she's ever met, because that's just the polite thing to do when someone is shot. Tommy let out a loud laugh, finally seeming relaxed. Jude looked over at him. "Something funny, Quincy?" Tommy shook his head while still laughing. "Mm-hmm. Sure." He finally got his laughing under control and they stared at each other for a minute, both smiling blissfully, lost in each other's eyes. Sadie sighed pleasantly at the sight and Kwest cleared his throat loudly. Tommy looked over at him, one eyebrow raised. "Kwest?"

Kwest ignored him and looked over at Jude. "You hungry?"

Jude nodded enthusiastically. Tommy jumped up. "I'll get it. Greasy?"

Jude laughed. "The greasiest you can find!"

Kwest laughed as he stood to join Tommy. "Got it, Jude." The two walked into the hallway leaving the girls behind in the room.

As they walked down the hall, Tommy couldn't get the smile off of his face. Kwest chuckled at his friend's happiness. They both felt so relaxed and free knowing Jude was okay, but Tommy felt more. He felt complete. The hole in his heart that had appeared the moment he had seen Jason in the living room had finally been filled, and he wasn't about to let go of that feeling for anything. As they exchanged light conversation and jokes, they laughed their way down the hallway, until Tommy suddenly stopped, his entire demeanor changing from lighthearted to shaking with anger. Kwest eyed him curiously. "Tom?"

Tommy didn't respond; he just stood like a wall, his fists clenched and his eyes glued to a patient in his bed. Kwest followed his gaze and froze at the sight in front of him.

Jason lay in his hospital bed, his head wrapped in bandages. Jason and Tommy's eyes met. A small sinister smile crept onto Jason's face as he stared at Tommy and winks. "How's that girl of yours?" A loud, evil laugh escaped his lips and Tommy lunged. Kwest dived forward, latching onto Tommy's shirt. He pulled him back and away from the doorway. "He's not worth it! Think of Jude!" He said as he struggled to push him down the hall.

"I am!" Tommy yelled as he fought to get free of Kwest's grip.

"Tom! This won't help her! Now go get her greasy food like you promised." He shoved him once more down the hallway, Tommy finally gaining control.

Tommy looked over his shoulder at the police officer who stared at him, half amused and half concerned. "You don't let him out of your sight! Got it?"

The cop nodded. "Yeah, I got it. Don't worry, that psycho isn't going anywhere."

Tommy nodded and turned back, heading toward the cafeteria. As they walked further and further down the hall, Jason's evil laugh faded into the background, and soon all that could be heard was the cop yelling to him to shut up.

Tommy smiled in satisfaction as he opened the doors to the cafeteria and walked in.

----

Fifteen minutes later, Tommy and Kwest walked back down the hall, Kwest being sure to stand between Tommy and the doorways as they passed Jason's room. Tommy threw a death glare into the room and shared a nod with the guard before continuing on his way. As he neared Jude's door, he saw her doctor talking to a nurse.

"You go in; I'll just be a minute." Kwest nodded and opened her door.

Tommy walked up to the doctor just as he had finished telling her the prescribed medications of some patient. The doctor looked up at him and smiled genuinely. "Well, if it isn't the hero. What can I do for you?"

Tommy gave a small smile and looked into his eyes. "Well, sir. As I'm sure you know, Jude is here because she was attacked." The doctor nodded. "And I just learned that her attacker is down the hall, just around that corner." Dr. Castleton glanced at the corner and then back at Tommy. "As you can imagine, we are all very concerned for Jude and if I-I mean, we- could just stay the night with her to make sure she's safe…"

Tommy trailed off, noticing the doctor's troubled expression. "Mr. Quincy, I can assure you, she will be very safe here."

Tommy interrupted him. "You can't know that! Please, I've already let her get hurt once, I can't let it happen again. Please." His voice cracked as he pleaded with the doctor.  
The doctor thought for a moment, clearly torn, before nodding. "Alright. But you have to listen to the nurses, and if they tell you to get out while they do their jobs, you _have__ to _listen. Alright?"

Tommy smiled as he nodded. "Absolutely." The doctor smiled and walked off, muttering something about young love. Tommy turned and walked back into Jude's room. "Good news, everyone! We've got greasy food and the doc says we can stay the night!"

Kwest looked at Tommy confused, but Tommy was too busy staring at Jude's astonishing smile. Her whole face was bright with joy as she laughed in excitement.

Sadie stood up and grabbed her purse. "Well then, we're going to need pillows and blankets and toothbrushes because I won't spend another day with any of you, unless you brush your teeth." Sadie teased. She kissed Jude on the forehead and turned to walk out. Tommy set down the food and was about to sit down when Sadie grabbed onto his shirt. "Oh no you don't. There is no way I'm facing the cameras alone. Someone has to find us a secret way out of here, so you're coming with me, Mr. Boyz Attack." She shoved his leather jacket into his chest and walked out. Tommy looked at Jude confused and she shrugged before nodding for him to follow. He smiled as he left the room.

Jude heard the elevator ding down the hall and Tommy and Sadie's voices go silent as the doors shut. She rolled onto her side to face Kwest.

"Hey, Kwest?"

He looked up, smiling. "Yeah?"

"What's up with Tommy? Earlier, he looked so disgusted with himself, when we were talking about what happened with Jason."

Kwest sighed, letting out a huge breath. He looked out the window and back into Jude's eyes. With a quiet voice and sad eyes, he explained. "He-he blames himself."

Jude grabs onto Taylor's hand as her eyes begin to water. "But it wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault." She said to herself, shaking her head.

"I know, we all know, but when it comes to Tommy, he always feels responsible for everyone, especially those he lov-" Kwest stopped himself, forcing himself to change his thoughts. "Those he is close to."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Oh, Kwest, just say it! We all know he loves her."

Kwest glared at her. "This is hardly the time to discuss this." He said through gritted teeth.

Jude laid her head back on the pillows as Taylor and Kwest continued to bicker. Her thoughts were far from the argument in front of her, but focused on the man who had saved her life instead. _But it wasn't his fault. _She thought, completely confused.

----

Later that night, everyone was sleeping soundly, but Jude just couldn't relax enough to even try. She rolled over and looked at Tommy. Even in his sleep he looked troubled and weighed down by grief. Jude, with a hushed voice, called his name. He stirred in his sleep and rolled to face her. She called his name again, this time earning a response.

"Hmm?" His eyes slowly opened. "What's up, big eyes?" He smiled softly.

Jude let out a small breath and moved her hand to cover his, which was resting on the corner of the bed. "It wasn't your fault either, ya know?" He looked confused, then realization and regret entered his eyes. She squeezed his hand. "I mean it." She stared into his eyes for a moment with a stern, yet gentle look that said, "Don't argue with me!" A grateful smile slowly broadened on Tommy's face as he nods and squeezed her hand back. He laid his head back down and closed his eyes. Jude took in his serene face. "Hey, Tommy?"

"Hmm?" He didn't even open his eyes this time, just turned his head toward her, and smiled.

"Thanks, ya know, for not giving up on me. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you."

A big smile crossed his face as he intertwined their fingers. "Anytime, rock star."

Jude smiled blissfully and closed her eyes, drawing a sense of peace and security for Tommy's hand, which lay comfortingly around hers, and she finally drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: What did you think? Review!**


	18. Is This the Sound of Our Demise?

**A/N: I'm so sorry, guys!!! Finals suck! But their done and I'm so ready to post like crazy!! Title is from the song 'Far More' by The Honorary Title. Read and review! Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Eighteen: Is This the Sound of Our Demise, or Just the Opposite?**

Tommy fell onto the couch, beat from a long day. It had been a week since Jude had been shot, two days since she had been home, and it had been nonstop work to keep her comfortable and feeling safe. Sadie tossed him a blanket as she walked to the stairs, her whole body sagging in exhaustion. She had spent the entire day fielding questions from the press, dealing with round the clock security to keep the paparazzi far from the house, convincing Jude's label in London that she wasn't up for interviews yet, and convincing her father that he didn't need to come home from his trip. She slowly walked up the stairs as Tommy readjusted his pillow and closed his eyes. He has been staying at the Harrison's house ever since the shooting, he told himself he was just making sure they were safe while things went back to normal, but the truth was he couldn't bring himself to leave her. It was like he was afraid if he left her side, she wouldn't be around anymore. He knew in reality she was alive and safe, but it all still felt like a dream, and he didn't want to risk waking up to Jude's funeral. So for now, he would stay close and she would stay safe.

He let the welcome escape of sleep take over his body as he drifted into a dream. Before he could see the scene, he heard it. He heard her screams and the panic in her voice. Suddenly everything came into focus and Tommy stood against the wall of the Harrison's living room, forced to watch a replay of the worst night of his life. Jude screamed "No!" as Jason pointed the gun at Taylor. Tommy clenched his jaw as a malicious smirk crossed Jason's face as he stared at Jude. Tommy tried to move, he tried to help but he couldn't. He was glued in place and his eyes were glued to her body as she stood with her back to her temporarily disabled enemy. "Turn around. Save her. He isn't unconscious! Turn around!" He yelled to himself as all the people in front of him stared at Taylor with sympathy and compassion. "Help her!!" He yelled again. He stared at Jason as he slowly stood and raised the black hand gun with a shaky hand. "Don't touch her!" He yelled, but it was useless. The gunshot echoed through the silent house and tears fell down Tommy's cheeks as he was forced to watch Jude crumble to the ground once again, this time feeling more powerless than before. "Jude!" He yelled, his voice cracked with grief and filled with anger. "Jude!" Tommy could feel his knees giving out and he welcomed the pain as he fell the ground. "You were supposed to save her!" He yelled to himself. "She depended on you! You were supposed to save her!" He bowed his head in agony and sobs began to wrack his body.

"Tommy." His head shot up, searching for the source of the faint voice. No one was there. "Tommy." He looked around again, and as he searched the room in front of him, it began to fade into the distance and was slowly replaced with a stream of light, cracking over the horizon. Soon the room was fully in focus and he opened his eyes to see Taylor standing over him. "Tommy." She said again, softly but forcefully.

He pushed himself up slightly and looked at her. Her face was painted with concern and exhaustion. "What's wrong?"

"It's Jude." She said. He instantly sat up, fully snapping back into reality. "She's having another nightmare, and I can't get her to wake up. I would have gotten Sadie, but this is the first night she hasn't spent sitting by Jude's bedside since the shooting and I don't want to bother her." Tommy nodded and bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He ran through her open door to see Jude thrashing around in her bed. "No!" She screamed. "It's not his fault. No!" She kept turning, flailing her arms in each direction. "No! Tommy!" She screamed with such terror it broke Tommy's heart. He sat on the side of her bed, placed his right hand on her left arm and his left on her cheek. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Jude. Jude it's okay. Jude." She continued to thrash, but her left arm remained calm under his touch. Her eyes scrunched and she began mumbling. "No, no. Tommy. Please don't leave me. Tommy. Tommy!" She began to scream again. "Tommy!" He leaned in again, and spoke softly into her ear. "Come back to me." He sat up once again and stared at her face, filled with pain. "Tommy!" She screamed in horror and she shot straight up. She stared forward, not seeing Tommy sitting beside her and began to shake, her breathing becoming ragged.

"Jude." He said comfortingly.

She turned to see him and instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and began crying into his shoulder. "Tommy. He-he shot you. I couldn't stop him. He shot you!" Her body violently shook as she released all the emotion and terror she had held in.

"Shh. Jude, it's okay. I'm fine. See, he didn't shoot me. I'm fine."

She pulled back to look at him and nodded, tears gleaming on her cheeks, before pulling him back into her. Her breathing grew more regular after a few moments and soon Tommy could see she was falling asleep again. He laid her back into her bed and began to walk away, but Jude called out to him.

"Tommy?" He stopped and turned to look at her. "Could you-um-not go?" She looked down at her bedspread as she said it. "What I mean is, could you-um, gosh-maybe stay with me until I fall asleep. I just ca-can't close my eyes without seeing his face, and hearing that gun shot." She fidgeted with her blanket as she spoke. "I'm sc-scared." Her voice cracked as she confessed what she had been fighting so hard to keep in. Her eyes slowly raised in embarrassment and shame as she looked to see his reaction.

He smiled softly and walked toward her. She scooted over and he crawled into the bed next to her. He wrapped one arm behind her back and one over her, careful of her bandaged shoulder, and pulled her close. Jude rested her head on his chest and gripped his shirt into a ball with her fist. She let out one final shaky breath and drifted back to sleep, finally at peace. Tommy watched as her fearful eyes finally warmed back up and she slowly closed them. He watched her chest rise and fall and noticed when her breathing had returned to normal, slow and deep breaths. He sighed in contentment and kissed the top of her head as he too allowed himself to fall back to sleep, escaping into his dream world for the remaining hours before they would both have to return to reality.

Taylor stood in the doorway, unnoticed by the room's occupants and sighed happily as she watched them both fall asleep in each other's arms. She knew it wouldn't last and that eventually there would be consequences for their closeness, but for now, he was Jude's rock and she needed him.

----

A few hours later they all sat at the breakfast table, chatting pointlessly about their upcoming days. They laughed at random jokes and smiled at the pleasant morning. Tommy's phone rang on the counter, singing Dashboard Confessional's "Don't Wait". Taylor reached from the table to grab it. She glanced at the caller ID and her smile slowly disappeared. "It's, um, Sasha." She said as she handed it to him.

He slowly grabbed it and stood from the table, waiting till he was in the next room to answer it. The girls all stayed silent, listening carefully. "Hey, Sasha. What's up?" He paused. "Yeah, I know I haven't been around lately, work's been crazy." They could faintly hear Sasha's hostile voice through the speaker. "How do you know I haven't been sleeping at home? Newsflash Sasha, we don't live in the same place, so what are you doing keeping tabs on mine?" Sasha's voice grew loader and clearer. "That is not fair and you know it! You know nothing is going on!" He fumed as she spoke. "No, I don't owe you anything, especially an explanation, because there is nothing to explain! Get a grip!" He slammed the phone shut, took a deep breath and returned to the kitchen. He grabbed his leather jacket off the chair and looked at the eager girls. "Sorry, I've gotta get going, the real world is calling. I'll see you guys later when you drop Taylor off at G-Major?" Jude smiled and nodded. He smiled back, ruffled her hair and turned to leave. He yelled goodbye over his shoulder as he shut the door softly.

The girls all went back to their meals, with mixed emotions. Taylor was stabbing some eggs with her fork when she couldn't contain her feelings anymore. "Well that was harsh. Someone's threatened." Jude and Sadie eyed her curiously then burst out laughing.

"Yeah, just a bit." Sadie said as she ate her pancakes. The girls all laughed and went back to their meal, not letting Sasha ruin their morning.

-----

A few hours later, Jude walked into G-Major with Sadie and Taylor. People stared at her in shock and whispered among themselves and she walked across the lobby, ignoring the attention. She walked up behind her former band and couldn't help but laugh as they all slammed giant hamburgers into their mouths, making a huge mess all over the table. "Seriously? I'm out of commission for a week and you guys become cavemen. W hat am I going to do with you?" They all turned around and smiled big, meat filled, smiles.

She chuckled at the disgustingness of the moment and, once they had properly swallowed, she moved forward to hug each of them. "Well, if it isn't Lisa Simpson, back from the dead." Spied laughed as he hugged her tightly. "You're so not allowed to get shot again, got it?" She laughed and nodded. She pulled out a sharpie and held it in front of him.

"As promised, you get to be the first to sign my sling. I've had to fight off Sadie, Taylor and Tommy for a week just to keep this two year old promise."

"Hey, when I hurt my foot jumping over parking meters while you were gone on an interview tour, I waited and let you be the first one to sign my cast on one condition-I get to be the first one to sign yours one day. So stop complaining."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Whatever." She handed him the sharpie and talked to Kyle and Wally while he signed it.

After ten minutes, he pulled back, clearly impressed with his work.

"Finally." Jude muttered as she moved to look in a mirror.

"Hey, you can't rush this level of genius."

She rolled her eyes as she examined his so called 'masterpiece.' He had drawn a cartoon of Lisa Simpson in a sling with Bart holding a guitar in front of her so she could strum it. Below were the words '-always-' with his name signed below it.

Jude's smile was almost too big for her face as she laughed and reached for another hug. "Man, I missed being the Lisa to your Bart. That's it, never again is an ocean any excuse for not seeing each other for months."

They all nodded and laughed. She took the sharpie back. "Well, I gotta go find Sadie, I promised she could be number two to sign, and then I'll be back. Don't move." She turned and scanned the lobby for Sadie.

Ten minutes later she returned to find an empty kitchen. Grumbling about men never following directions, she went in search of her boys, finally finding them in studio D, messing around. "Seriously? What part of 'don't move' meant go to the furthest recording studio?"

Kyle looked up from his guitar. "Sorry, Jude. Spied got a melody in his head so we bolted for instruments."

"A melody, huh? Need some backing female vocals?"

Spied smiled at the idea and handed her the lyrics. "How about some lead ones for old time's sake?"

Jude squealed in excitement and grabbed the notebook out of his hand, reading through the lyrics as the boys played. After Spied had shown her his melody, they plugged into amps and set up the microphones. Jude fumbled with the sound board, remembering back to when she was her own producer, and finally hit record. She dashed back into the sound booth and listened as the boys' music filled her ears. Soon she was belting out Spied's words like they were her own and smiling like she was seventeen again, without a care in the world, when it was just her, her music, and her boys.

----

An hour later, Taylor was sitting on a stool in the sound booth of Studio A, trying to nail the bridge of her newest song. Tommy could tell she was distracted but he had been expecting that, so he didn't push her on it. Instead he let her try time and time again. After their fifteenth take, Taylor's phone went off. She lunged for her bag next to her stool and dug through it, finally retrieving her phone. She flipped it open and eagerly read the text. She slammed it shut and flung herself off of her chair. She flew to the door and ran through, yelling back to Tommy, "I have to pee!"

Tommy stared after her long after she had gone with extreme confusion, then shrugged and went back to listening to their last take.

Taylor sprinted down the hall, swinging around door frames, until she made it to the alley door. She pushed it open and silently let in her awaiting guest. She giggled as they ran back down the hallway and she carefully checked the occupants of each room before entering it. Finally they ended up back in the lobby where she instructed her guest to hide behind the receptionist desk, and, despite the weird looks Stacy gave them, he followed orders and crouched out of view, next to Stacy's chair.

Taylor turned to run back down the hall when she heard Tommy yelling behind her. "Taylor, we have to get this done! Come on!" She continued running and yelled to him over her shoulder.

"Just a minute."

She sprinted and slammed her body against the wall next to the door of Studio D. She took a moment to catch her breath and calm herself down so she could resemble some form of normalcy. When she was sure she could talk without gasping, she opened the door. Everyone looked up from their circle of guitars and notebooks. "Sorry to interrupt, but Jude, Tommy is being impossible on the hook to my new song. Will you please come talk some sense into him?"

Jude smiled and nodded. She stood and walked to the open door. "Be back in a minute, guys."

Jude walked back up the hallway with Taylor and into the lobby. She turned toward Studio A, but Taylor stood in front of her, blocking her way. Jude raised an eye brow, eyeing her curiously. "Uh-Tay? In order to talk some sense into that producer of yours, I'm going to have to actually talk to him, as in-face to face, as in-in the same room." She motioned to the door in front of her, but Taylor refused to budge.

"Yeah. I just had one question I've been meaning to ask you."

Jude looked a little worried, she knew something was up. "Kay?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you were missing a friendly, gay cowboy, who happens to amazing at singing?"

"Wha-?" Jude stared at her confusingly but was interrupted by an insanely familiar voice.

"You forgot 'amazing guitarist'" He chuckled from behind her.

Jude spun around and stared into his eyes in shock and smiled. He was back.

**----**

**A/N: So, what did you think? Review, please!**


	19. The Beauty of Grace

**A/N: Hey. It took me forever to figure out how to end this chapter! Hope you like it!**

**The title is from "Be My Escape" by Relient K. Let me know what you think and any ideas you have! I'm battling major writers block, so anything you can think of will be great! Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Nineteen: The Beauty of Grace is That it Makes Life Not Fair **

"Ah!" Jude's squeal caused every head in the lobby to turn. She stared at him in shock for a minute then jumped into his arms in excitement. "Mason!" Mason laughed at Jude's excitement. As he hugged her closely, he picked her off the ground and swung her around. They both laughed as he set her back on the ground. She pulled back to get a good look at him then hugged him once more. "What are you doing here?"

Mason glanced up at Taylor, who was beaming with accomplishment. "Well, after a certain pop star managed to get shot, a certain best friend called a certain rocking cowboy and here we are."

Jude turned to look at Taylor, her face half ecstatic, half confused. "You called him?"

Taylor smiled and glanced at the floor. "Yeah. I knew how much you missed hanging out with him and after all you've done for me and all you've been through, I just thought you could use a nice surprise."

"A heck of a nice surprise!" Jude laughed.

----

Tommy sat at his soundboard, still waiting for Taylor to comeback. He messed with the bass in their last take and listened closely to the effect. A muffled squeal drifted into the room and Tommy looked up at Kwest confused. "Did you hear-" He was cut off by another outburst.

"Mason!"

Tommy raised an eyebrow at Kwest. "Did she just say, 'Mason'?" They both rose from their seats and walked out of the studio. They scanned the lobby for the source of the noise until they saw Jude jumping into Mason's arms. Tommy couldn't help but smile at Jude's laugh as Mason spun her around. She hadn't been this happy in a long time. Kwest walked forward.

"Well, well, well. Look who came back to visit his favorite producers."

"Couldn't stay away, cowboy?"

Mason laughed at Kwest and Tommy's teasing. "Never." Jude clung to him as she smiled at Tommy.

"Leave him alone, boys. Really, when have either of you ever been able to stay away from The Jude Harrison?"

Mason looked down at her. "_The _Jude Harrison? Did you have it legally changed or is your ego just trying it out?"

Kwest and Tommy burst out laughing then instantly tried to cover it up. Jude slapped Mason's shoulder. "Don't tease the injured girl!"

Mason smiled but looked down at her shoulder worriedly. "Speaking of that, how's that feeling?"

Jude shrugged. "Pain killers are nice. They make me kind of loopy though. Ask Tommy, those first few days in the hospital, I was on such a morphine high."

Tommy chuckled. "My favorite had to be the duck impersonation."

Jude's face turned bright red as everyone shared a good laugh. "Watch it, Quincy or I'll send Sadie after you. After these past few days, she could probably use a good outlet of aggression. Feel like being a punching bag? I think kick boxing is her favorite right now."

The smile on Tommy's face faded and his eyes widened slightly. Taylor and Jude laughed.

Mason chuckled and looked down at Jude. "So, I've cleared my schedule for next three days, so all I've got is time for you."

"Really, three whole days for little ol' me? Whatever will we do?"

"Whatever you want."

Jude laughed. "Feel like fishing through a toilet for a ridiculously expensive earing?"

Mason cringed. "No. Not really. Once was enough for me."

"Once was enough for all of us." Spied laughed. They all turned to find him standing in the doorway. "Hey, man. How's it going?" He walked forward and clapped Mason on the back. "So, the guys and I are done in about and hour and a half. Wanna meet at our recording space for lunch?"

"Come on, this is a special occasion. Let's actually go somewhere. The deli on the corner?" Spied and Mason nodded in agreement. "Tommy, Kwest, Tay, you guys in?"

Taylor hesitated and looked at her producers. "I'm in if my two _amazing _producers are cool with cutting our session short today?"

Tommy hesitated but Kwest just smiled. "Hey, if we all go, we can call it a 'business meeting' and Darius can't care."

"Sweet. Taylor will you call Sadie for me and tell her to meet us there?"

Taylor nodded. "On it."

"Okay, we'll meet you guys there. Oh and try not to bring the paparazzi with you."

Tommy laughed. "Sounds good to me. We'll meet you there; but for now, Taylor has a song to finish, so.." He grabbed the back of Taylor's shirt and pulled her back into the studio and Kwest followed, shutting the door behind them.

"Yeah, I better get back too. We have to have that song finished and ready to record for tomorrow. See ya guys later." Spied said as he backed out of the room.

"All right, blondie, what are we going to do?"

Jude thought for a moment then gasped in excitement. "We're going to rent a boat."

"A boat?" Mason looked at her as if she was crazy. "And what are we going to do with a boat?"

Jude shook her head as she pulled him out the back door of the alley so they could sneak to his car without being seen by the paparazzi that had swarmed the front entrance while she had been inside. "Drive it, of coarse."

Jude's eyes rolled and Mason's widened in fear as they both hopped into his car and drove toward the marina. "You do know you're crazy, right?"

Jude laughed. "So I've been told."

-----

Jude ran a hand through her wet hair and shook it, attempting to make it presentable, while Mason held his drenched shirt under a hand drier. "See, wasn't that fun?"

Mason laughed. He had to admit the water fight in the middle of the lake had been totally worth it. He had casually filled a bucket with water and thrown it at Jude, so Jude had retaliated by catching him off guard and shoving him right off the boat and into the lake. He stared at his shirt and watched the last wet spot quickly dry, while Jude lowered her head under the drier next to his and began drying her hair.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Jude glanced at the time on her cellphone and stood up straight from the drier, fixing her hair in the mirror. "We've got to hurry, we're supposed to be at the deli in twenty minutes."

Mason nodded. "Ready when you are."

Jude made one final adjustment to her hair, grabbed her bag and headed toward the door. "Let's see if we can make it through lunch without getting wet."

"I make no promises." Mason laughed as he followed her out to the car.

Twenty minutes later, Jude and Mason pulled up in front of the deli and ran inside, finding a table full of her closest friends. As Jude sat down, Taylor leaned over to fill her in on Kwest's story. Jude and Mason laughed at the antics of their friends and joined in on the conversation.

The waitress arrived a few moments later with a tray full of food. Mason and Jude looked at their group, surprised. "You guys ordered for us?"

Sadie smiled and shrugged. "It wasn't that hard, I know your favorites and Kwest knew Mason's from their recording days."

Jude smiled her thanks and dug into her BLT.

Jude sighed contently and leaned back in her chair, extending her legs as far as they could go. As she slouched, Tommy took the last bite of his California Club sandwich and leaned back, placing a hand on his full stomach. His legs pushed forward; as they straightened, his leg brushed against Jude's ankle. He froze and looked up slowly at Jude, who had stopped breathing.

His eyes met hers.

Hers held shock and passion; his held need and desire, but Jude could tell that he was torn.

Jude wanted so badly to say something, but couldn't think of the words. So they just sat, staring into each other's eyes, trying to figure out life.

"Nothing is going on, huh? Why don't you try telling me that lie again."

The lock Jude had on Tommy's eyes broke as he spun his head to the side. Standing by the front door was Sasha, with her arms crossed across her chest and her lips pulled into a straight line. She shook her head as she stared at Tommy and glanced at Jude. "Jerk." She spat as she ran out. Tommy sighed deeply and flew out of his seat, following his fiancé.

"Sasha, wait!" He ran out the door and onto the sidewalk, grabbing her arm and spinning her around.

"What, Tommy?! Whatever your going to say, just save it! You're actions said enough."

Tommy held onto her arm to keep her from running away. "I don't know what you think you saw, but I promise you, it's not what really happened. It can't be, because _nothing _happened. Okay? Nothing."

Sasha looked down at the ground. "Nothing?" Her voice cracked. "You call that nothing? Trust me Tommy, that wasn't nothing. You haven't looked at me that way in a long time. Trust me, to me it's definitely not _nothing_."

She looked back up into his eyes. "Just let me go, Tommy." She pulled back on her arm and his grip loosened. She turned and slowly walked toward the corner.

"Sasha, please." Tommy stared after her.

She turned back to face him, walking backwards. "No, Tommy. Not this time. I-I just need to clear my head." She turned back and walked around the corner, disappearing from his sight.

Tommy stood still, staring in the direction she had walked. He couldn't see her, but that didn't stop him from looking. He had hurt her, and she hadn't deserved it.

Jude and the rest of the gang walked onto the sidewalk. They all stood, making small talk, not sure where to go now that lunch was over. Jude abruptly stopped her conversation with Taylor as Tommy's defeated posture caught her eye. Taylor followed her gaze, but instead of seeing Tommy, she looked further down the street. Her eyes grew wide at the quickly approaching stampede of paparazzi.

"Crap." She muttered before turning back to the group. "Guys, we gotta go. Now!" Everyone stopped talking and looked where Taylor was pointing. Taylor grabbed Jude, snapping her attention back to reality. Jude turned to run, but quickly noticed Tommy wasn't following. She turned back and lunged for Tommy's arm.

"Tommy, snap out of it and run!" He shook his head as the sight of Sasha walking away disappeared and the reality of approaching paparazzi came into focus. Together, they ran to catch up to the group who was quickly closing in on the opposite corner, desperate to get out of view of the incoming cameras. After sprinting down the street, they ran into Jude's recording space and locked the door behind them. As they all tried to catch their breath, Spied couldn't help but laugh.

"I told you, we should have come here for lunch."

Jude rolled her eyes and laughed. "Shut up, Spied."

As everyone joked around, Tommy stood, frozen against the wall, panting, lost in thought and not knowing what to do next; but he knew he had to do something, because change was coming and a choice had to be made.

----

**A/N: What did you think? Review!**


	20. Placing My Hands Over My Eyes

**A/N: Wow, between AP tests, graduation, work, being sick and getting writer's block-it has taken me FOREVER to get this chapter out! And I'm so so so sorry! Good news-once writer's block finally broke down, it brought with it the outline for the next few chapters! So, with practically everything out of the way, regular uploads can resume, hopefully quicker than regular! So here's chapter twenty! The title is from the song "Spin" by Alexz Johnson. It's an awesome song! Don't forget to review. Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Twenty: Placing My Hands Over My Eyes, Won't See Through This Disguise**

Jude plopped down on the couch, leaned into the crook of Mason's arm and pressed play on the remote. They stared at the screen watching the opening sequence of _Sleepless in Seattle_, which, according to Mason, was just what the doctor ordered. Jude squirmed for the popcorn and clutched the bowl as she inhaled its contents.

Mason laughed. "Whoa, slow down."

Jude shook her head. "Nope. Not after you ate the entire last bag during Eagle Eye."

Mason rolled his eyes and the kept on watching the movie.

An hour passed. Jude's eyes were glued to the screen, unexpectedly relating to Meg Ryan's character not being able to have the guy she dreams of. Her eyes began to water as Meg Ryan stood watching across the street as Tom Hanks hugged a beautiful woman only twenty feet away. Mason noticed Jude's breathing become staggered and choppy. He squeezed his hand around her shoulder and pulled her close as she succumbed to her emotions. She sat sobbing into his chest for the next half hour until she was able to regain some semblance of composure.

When Mason could sense her breathing slowly returning to normal, he pulled her a little closer and spoke softly. "So, I guess that answers my 'how are you holding up?' question that I've been meaning to ask."

Jude shrugged.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Jude shrugged again.

Mason nodded. "Let's talk about it."

Jude sighed. "I-I just-I know I made a mistake in leaving, but now he's moving on, and I'm afraid I've made another mistake by coming back, because I'm ruining the progress he's made, so I should just go back home, right?"

"Wel-" Mason started to respond, but was quickly cut off by Jude's rambles.

"But, what if leaving is an even bigger mistake? I mean is repeating the same mistake on top of another mistake the biggest mistake ever?" Jude stopped and stared at Mason, waiting for an answer. "Well?"

Mason cleared his throat, choosing his words carefully. "Jude. Only you can know what is right for you."

"And Tommy, and Sasha, and the rest of the world involved." Jude mumbled as she leaned back, slouching into the couch. She stared at the wall aimlessly, lost in thought. "I have to let him go, don't I?"

Mason put his arm back around her shoulder and she leaned into his chest. They sat in silence as they watched the movie.

"I'm going back to Europe."

Mason leaned forward to look in her eyes. "You're going where?" He said in shock.

"I have to. We both know Sasha and Tommy can't get past this with me here. Plus I should really get back to finishing my album."

They settled back in to the couch.

"You're not leaving for your music, are you?"

"It's what's best."

"For you or for him?" Mason questioned.

"It's what's best." She repeated.

Mason pulled her closer and they sat together in silence, only the noises of the movie filling the room.

----

The next morning Jude stood with Mason at the entrance of the airport. She pulled out of their hug and stared up at him.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye."

Mason looked back down at her. "Just for a few months; I'll see you at the World finals for Instant Star. You know Darius isn't going to let you slip out of that one."

Jude wrapped her arms around him. "If me being there means I get to see you again, then they'll have to fight to keep me away."

Mason laughed and rubbed her back.

They stayed silent for a moment, basking in their last few moments together.

"So, are you going to say goodbye to him?"

Jude pulled out of his arms and stared at the floor. "I don't know if I can. Besides, he hasn't been seen since that swarm of paparazzi chased us into the music space three days back. I don't even think Kwest knows where he is, all Sadie could get him to say was that Tommy had to go figure some "stuff" out. So, I was just-"

"Just hoping you wouldn't have to say goodbye?"

Jude nodded with tears in her eyes. "I'm no good at goodbyes." A single tear slipped down her cheek and Mason wrapped his arms around her once again. He kissed her head.

"Deep breath, Jude. You're going to be just fine."

He pulled away. Jude's hand slipped down his arm and into his hand. She extended her arm, clinging onto his hand as long as she could as he backed away. As her fingers tips touched his, she looked into his eyes. He smiled. "You've got strength Harrison, don't ever think different! I'll see you in two months. Just remember, deep breaths."

Jude gulped and nodded, pleading with her emotions to keep composure as her best friend walked through security. He picked up his bag and turned to wave one final time before jogging to his departure gate.

Jude stayed standing there for a moment, wishing he would come back; but the cold chill of reality told her he wasn't so she gathered up her nerves, turned around and, with one final look over her shoulder, walked back out into world, knowing what she had to do, but wishing with everything in her that she didn't.

----  
A few hours later, Jude went out into the garage to retrieve her luggage before reason could persuade her otherwise. She had already packed the things she had brought with her but now needed another bag to pack her new clothes and the things from home she couldn't separate from. Jude dug through box after box and eventually just started tossing them aside in frustration. An empty box went flying into the wall across the garage and then crashed into a large pile which resulted in a domino effect of a once neatly piled stack of stored memories and forgotten mementoes.

Jude groaned and dropped the box of half used paint cans and shuffled over to the mess. She slowly began sorting through the disaster, resorting and restacking. As she got the top level back in place, the past smacked her in the face. She stared at the handle bars of her old motorcycle which poked above the scattered boxes. She moved the remaining boxes out of the way and stared at her beautiful bike. Instantly, memories of her and Tommy rescuing the discarded bikes from the garbage yard and restoring them to pristine condition flooded over her. She pulled it out and looked it over. It was a bit dusty and could probably use a little tune up, but still beautiful.

She had never had a chance to ride it; she had left so quickly that she never finished fixing the transmission. When she had left it, it had had gears that needed replacing and wires sticking out, but now it was perfect. Everything had been fixed and it had been finished.

She didn't have to think about who had finished it for her. She knew. "Boy, I sure know how to dump 'em." She muttered to herself. Tommy had never mentioned it, Sadie probably didn't even know. He had done it for her when he knew she would probably never find out.

Jude let out a deep, remorseful sigh. She stared at the bike a moment more before an idea sparked in her eyes. She began looking around frantically, digging under more boxes and making the unorganized mess even worse until she found it. With a triumphant smile she pulled her black helmet out of a box in the corner and dusted it off, running her fingers over where she had signed her name on the back in silver sharpie. She pulled the hair out of her face and slid the helmet on, pulling the glass visor down so that it securely covered her eyes, then she mounted the bike. It took a few tries but it eventually roared to life. She revved it a few times, reveling in the rush the sound gave her and finally she released the brake, catapulting out of the garage and down the street.

She drove aimlessly, no destination in mind, trying harder to find the end in her mind rather than on the road. As she defied the wind and pushed through it, memories of the past years since she had won Instant Star flashed through her mind. Entering the contest, the moment she won, meeting Tommy for the first time, falling in love, loosing Tommy only to find him, again and again. She remembered every emotion, every tear, every laugh, the feeling in her stomach when she was in Tommy's arms and the heartbreak she felt knowing she had hurt him when she left.

As the memories flashed through her mind, her emotions broke through every barrier and soon her vision was too blurred with repressed tears to see.

She pulled off to the side of the road, turned her bike off and gave into every emotion, her body shaking as she relived every pain and reveled in every regret.

She was in a world of her own until a vibration against her skin brought her back to reality. She pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and briefly glanced at the screen before flipping it open.

"Hey, Tay, sorry, but now's just not a good time."

"Jude! I've had the best idea ever! I want you to help with vocals on my newest song!"

When Jude had said her first word, Taylor had exploded in excitement, completely missing Jude's plea to be alone.

Jude hesitated, but knew that she couldn't reschedule because she was leaving and she wanted to spend as much time as possible with Taylor before she had to go.

Taking a deep breath, Jude gathered strength so her voice wouldn't crack. "Sure, Tay. I'll head right over."

Taylor squealed in excitement, which was a rare occurrence. "Thank you _so _much, Jude! See you soon!"

Jude flipped her phone shut and took a final deep breath before latching her helmet on again and revving the engine back to life. Not giving herself time to change her mind, Jude sped off down the road toward G-Major. After fifteen minutes, she pulled into the alley and parked her bike. Unlatching her helmet, Jude slowly walked to the front door. She placed her hand on the door handle, took a deep breath, put on a fake smile and pulled it open, praying for the strength to somehow get through this day.

**A/N: What did you think? Review, please!**


	21. I Had To Make a Choice That Was Not Mine

**A/N: I seriously had to redo this chapter so much to get it right, but it's finally done! The song you'll see in this chapter is Alexz Johnson's new song 'Skips' from her unreleased album. All of her new songs are so amazing, you should all go listen-you can find them on YouTube under 'Alexz Johnson solo album'. The chapter name came from-****the song 'Call Me' by Shinedown. I saw a few mistakes, so I had to upload it again...and then again. haha. sorry. **  
**Don't forget to review! The story is going to be ending soon, so if anyone has any ideas they want to see me put it, let me know!  
Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Twenty-One: I Had To Make A Choice That Was Not Mine, I Had To Say Goodbye For The Last Time**

Jude walked out of Studio B and headed to the fridge, retrieving a water bottle. She leaned against the counter, took a long drink and spent a few silent moments staring off into space, before forcing herself to return to the sound booth.

To say that, when she had arrived, she had been surprised to see Tommy was an understatement. When she had walked in twenty minutes ago, she had been expecting to see Kwest and Taylor discussing the song, but instead all she saw was Tommy hunched over the soundboard. She had stayed frozen in the door frame, silent and unnoticed, until Taylor had come up behind her and shaken her back to reality. Tommy had looked up, surprised, as Jude stuttered her response and Kwest reentered the booth carrying a traditionally large sandwich. Taylor walked across the booth, to the door of the recording studio, towing Jude along.

"Hey, Kwest." Jude said with a smile. "Tommy."

Each boy said his hello in return, and then they set off to work.

Jude and Tommy hadn't spoken a word since. Jude took a deep breath and reentered the sound booth, pulling up a chair next to Tommy. She glanced up at him as he worked with the piece they had just finished recording, then looked back down at the soundboard.

"So, I heard you left." She said, not raising her head.

"Uh, yeah, I had some stuff to take care of."

"And you couldn't have taken an extra day?" She muttered, incomprehensible.

"Huh?" Tommy questioned.

"Oh, I was just saying that you are doing really well with Taylor; the albums really coming along. "

Tommy nodded, continuing his focus on his work.

"You know, she really wanted this song to be a duet." He said without raising his head from his notebook.

Jude looked through the window of the recording studio and watched Taylor reposition her stool and change the microphone. "Yeah, I wanted to, but background vocals were a better idea. It's her time in the spotlight; this should be all about her."

Tommy glanced up at Jude. "That's really nice of you."

Jude met his eyes and quickly looked away. Her heart started to pound at the sight of a warm spark in Tommy's eyes. Jude stood quickly.

"I-I, uh, I'm gonna go see-, yeah." Jude raced out the door of Studio B and down the hall. When she was finally out of sight of anyone, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. After a moment, she began to wander the halls. She needed to kill sometime, regain some control before she faced Tommy again.

As Jude walked down the dark hallways, she peeked into each room, attempting to distract herself. After discovering three storage rooms and two empty rooms, Jude opened the door to a room filled with boxes of posters, fliers and old, unsuccessful CDs. She walked in and looked around, kneeling in front of a few boxes, she began fingering her way through each box of CDs. Jude couldn't help but laugh sadly as she opened a box and pulled out one of her own CDs. She ran her fingers over the title. "My Turn." It had seemed so fitting at the time and now ironically appropriate. Back then it had been her turn with Tommy. After he left it was her turn to prove herself as a producer. When he proposed it was her turn for a happy ending. When she had left it was her turn for an adventure. And now it was her turn to give him up. To walk away. To give him a chance at a better life, no matter how much she wished it was her turn to be Mrs. Tommy Quincy, or Thomas Duteau, whoever he wanted her to be, that's who she would be. But her turn was over. It was all over.

Jude took a deep breath and placed the box down as tears glistened down her cheeks. She wiped them away and stood, not allowing herself to go any further down that road.

"For him." She whispered to herself. She nodded, wiped the remaining tears away and walked back out into hallway. "For him."

Keeping a hold of the determination she found from those two words, she walked back down the hallway, going back the way she came. She trailed her fingers along the wall, feeling the grooves of the paint until she rounded the final corner and came face to face with a dark, silent lobby.

"What on earth?" She mumbled as she walked blindly into the black room, her only guide the moonlight streaming in from the far window. With her arms outstretched, she stepped cautiously, aiming for the light switches by the front door.

She was halfway across the room when a cool hand touched her shoulder. Jude screamed and spun around, swinging her fist as she turned, then screamed again when she heard a load groan as her fist connected with a large shoulder.

"Dang it, Jude!"

"Tommy?!"

"Yeah, who else did you think it was?"

"Hey! Remember who you're talking to. Stalkers, psychos and elaborate paparazzi plans aren't exactly a foreign concept."

Tommy groaned. "Fine, but really, did you have to punch me and scream in my ear."

Jude rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Quincy, like that really hurt; now help me find the light switch."

Tommy pulled out his cell phone and used the light to guide their steps to the front door. Jude flipped on all the lights then looked around proudly as the entire office lit up, but Tommy just groaned.

Jude turned to look at him curiously.

Tommy pointed at the newly installed panel on the wall above the light switches. "It's the new security system Darius just installed."

"Yeah, so? We need to get out, not in."

"Not only is the alarm triggered by any change in position of any exterior doors or windows, it also holds the deadbolt locked in place unless a keycard is swiped, releasing the locks."

"Well, you work here. Don't you have a keycard?"

"I took some days off, I've only been back for a few hours, and Darius wasn't in the office today. Therefore, no card."

"I swear Darius gets more paranoid by the day." Jude groaned as she ran a hand through her hair and looked around the lobby.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Sadie. The phone rang a few times then went to voicemail. "Sadie, Tommy and I are locked inside G-Major. Call me the second you get this!" She slammed the phone shut, and then dialed Taylor, obtaining the same result.

When Jude finished her message to Taylor, Tommy dialed Kwest's number. When Kwest didn't answer, Tommy left him a message, threatening pain if he didn't call back soon.

"Why would Taylor leave without you?"

Jude thought for a minute, and then realization dawned on her. "Probably because I parked my bike in the alley, so when she left she didn't see my car and assumed I had gone home without her."

Tommy stared at her, silent for a moment. "So, you found your old bike then, I guess?"

Jude nodded. "I came across it when I was, um, looking for something in the garage."

Tommy just nodded and looked away. Jude looked away awkwardly then sighed.

After a moment of silence, Jude slouched down onto the couch next to her, leaned back and looked up at Tommy. "So, what do we do now?"

----

An hour and a half, three magazines, four pages of doodles, and freshly painted black nails later and Jude was getting restless. After returning the magazines and bottle of nail polish to the receptionist's desk drawer, Jude walked into recording studio B where Tommy sat replaying and tweaking Taylor's final take of today's song.

"Sounds good." Jude said as she sat down.

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, but something's not quite right. I just can't place it."

"Start it over, maybe I can figure it out."

Tommy restarted the song and leaned back, focusing on each note and each moment, taking it apart, while also hearing it as a whole.

Jude closed her eyes, allowing the music to sink in and take over. A small smile spread on her face as Taylor's first verse filled the empty space. She was truly talented, the lyrics were so true and genuine and her voice had the ability to break through the barriers and hit your heart. As the chorus began Jude's smile slowly faded.

"I know what's wrong." She said as she slowly sat up. "Me."

Tommy looked over confused.

"We both know this wasn't my best work, today I wasn't even in the same league as Taylor. My background vocals aren't helping, they're detracting."

Tommy rewound the song to the beginning of the chorus and listened again. As much as it killed him to admit, Jude was right. The problem was her. "Well, we've got time to kill. Let's try it again."

Jude hesitated, but walked into the recording studio. She put the headphones on and nodded to Tommy to start the music. She owed Taylor this song, and she was going to get it right.

----

"Jude, this is Take 27! What is wrong?" Tommy yelled into the sound booth's intercom.

Jude groaned. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm trying!"

"What, is this what your new producers call nailing it? Cause to me it sounds like missing it by a mile."

"Don't." She stared into his eyes, a fire burning in hers.

"What? Don't talk about your new producers? What about your new town? Your new home? Your new friends?"

"Don't." She said again, her teeth clenched, her eyes locked into Tommy's.

"Your new music?"

"I said don't!" Jude yelled.

Tommy stood from his chair and stormed into the sound booth. "What, your music? Is that what this is about?" He was still challenging her, but had softened his tone slightly.

"Tommy, I'm not doing this with you, okay? So just go back to your soundboard and let's do another take. This isn't about my music, this is about Taylor's."

Tommy shook his head. "Sorry, but we're not wasting any more time recording until you fix whatever the problem is. And judging from your unwillingness to talk about your music, there's something that you can't get off your mind."

Jude just shook her head and looked away, so Tommy continued.

"Jude, I've known you for years now, I can tell when you're distracted. So, whatever it is, get it out in the open so we can record this dang song."

Jude rolled her eyes. "And how do you suggest I do that?"

"Well you could always write-"

"So help me, Tommy, if you tell me to write a song I will throw this microphone at you and it won't feel good!"

"You want me to back off? Then tell me what's wrong!"

Jude just looked away, silently. "You don't want to know."

"Jude!"

"Fine! I'm mad and confused and hurt! Okay?!"

Tommy stared at her in shock. "You're hurt? What on earth could you have to be hurt over? I'm sorry, maybe I'm mistaken, but were you the one who proposed and then was dumped on stage in front of thousands of fans? No, wait. That was me. Oh, how about this one, were you the one who had planned an entire life only to be traded in for a life of diva "adventure" in London? No, wait, me again. Hmm, yeah, sorry, I'm just not seeing any reason _you _could have for being hurt."

Jude shook with anger. "Can we review the past few years, Tommy? You've left me more than once both emotionally _and _physically."

He just looked at her, challenging her, mocking her, egging her on. The fight in his eyes sparked fire in hers and filled her soul with rage. Her voice was cold, tight; her body language practically screamed 'I told you so!"

"Let's see," She began counting on her fingers to emphasize her point. "My sixteenth birthday, when you left me at that restaurant, my eighteenth birthday, in your hometown. Yeah, Tommy, I left _once_, I made _one _huge mistake that I will probably regret for the rest of my life, but don't you dare say I'm the only one who left. And don't you dare say you're the only one allowed to hurt, you hypocritical jerk!"

She threw her writing journal at him with the last word, before turning on her heel and storming out of the recording studio, across the lobby to a couch next to the window, where she plopped down and stared out at the vacant street, her heart racing.

Tommy stood frozen. He had caught the journal alright, but not before it hit him in the face, leaving a dark red mark below his left eye, which would, undoubtedly, fade into a bruise by morning. As he rubbed his eye, he pulled out his cell phone, dialing Kwest's number once again. "Come on, Kwest, pick up." He mumbled to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be a long night.

-----

Kwest glanced down at his phone as it vibrated on the table. "Tommy's calling again."

Sadie shook her head. "Don't answer. Some alone time will do them good. What's the worst that could happen?"

"They could kill each other." Kwest mumbled.

"I'm willing to take that risk." Taylor laughed as she sat down on the couch with popcorn and Sadie hit play on their movie.

---

Tommy spun in his chair, staring at the closed writing journal. He glanced up at Jude, who stared out at the dark night sky. After letting out a deep sigh, he stood and walked cautiously toward the volatile girl. Without a word he handed her the journal, turned and began to walk back to the studio.

Jude stared at her journal and groaned softly. "Tommy."

He turned but didn't say anything.

"What would you say about being my producer for one last night?"

Tommy motioned to the studio.

Jude smiled and stood, holding her journal tight and walked into the studio

She situated herself restlessly on her stool. After laying down the keyboard for the song, Jude adjusted the microphone and took a deep breath.

"Okay, Tommy. I'm ready."

Tommy nodded and pushed play on the instrumental music they had already edited and compiled into perfection.

Jude took a final deep breath and then began to sing, exposing her soul to the only one who could truly hurt it.

_I feel my heart doesn't fit  
'Cause it beats too many times  
And it skips  
Running races in my head and then_

_I feel my hands don't work  
Touching your skin in the dark  
I was put here to watch  
Not meant to get caught up in it  
Close to your skin_

_Up and down  
On this merry-go-round  
Take Me Up  
Put me back in one piece  
But let me feel you_

_Well, here I am  
Landing myself again  
Ready to fake on a win  
But let me break him in  
Let me break him in_

_I made a choice  
Try and make myself invisible  
Make sure I can fit it  
Cause I'm sick of feeling miserable  
Hidden by some lies  
Sacrifice my friendly ties  
Started from scratch  
Won't attack if he walks my way  
Hear what he has to say_

_I feel my heart doesn't fit  
'Cause it beats too many times  
And it skips  
Running races in my head and then_

_I feel my hands don't work  
Touching your skin in the dark  
I was put here to watch  
Not meant to get caught up in it  
Close to your skin_

_I made a choice  
Try and make myself invisible  
Make sure I can fit it  
Cause I'm sick of feeling miserable  
Hidden by some lies  
Sacrifice my friendly ties  
Started from scratch  
Won't attack if he walks my way  
Hear what he has to say_

_I feel my heart doesn't fit  
'Cause it beats too many times  
And it skips  
Running races in my head and then_

She faded out on the last word and listened as the music did the same. She kept her eyes glued to the ground for a few moments after the song ended, soaking in the silence of her headphones. Finally she drew up the courage to see Tommy's reaction and lifted her eyes to meet his. He was staring at her in shock.

"That bad?" She half joked.

Tommy shook the shock off his face. "Jude, that was amazing. I guess I forgot what it was like to hear a song that-that-real."

Jude shrugged as she walked through the doorway and sat next to Tommy. "I guess I always did have a way of harnessing my emotions."

Tommy stared at her. "Can I ask what these emotions are from?"

Jude looked away. "I really wish you wouldn't."

Tommy lifted her chin and pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. "Jude." He whispered, longingly.

Jude only allowed herself to give in for a second, a brief moment where she let her body melt into his touch and had all her fears and problems rush away, before she slapped herself back into reality.

She stood and moved across the room quickly. "No, Tommy. No." She looked harshly into his eyes. "You can't do this to me. Not again. You have a fiancé and this whole life picked out. You don't get to look at me like that. Not anymore." She turned and began to storm out of the studio.

"Jude!" Tommy called, following quickly after her. "Stop throwing my new life in my face. You leaving just about broke me, so I did what I had to do. I moved on. I fixed it the only way I could find. So for once stop being a self-centered diva because that's what got us here in the first place, or don't you remember?"

Jude stared at Tommy, fire radiating through her body. His words had stung, momentarily crippling her, before her hurt turned to anger.

Jude pointed at him then poked his chest. She was just about to respond when they both heard a loud beep followed by the click of the deadbolt sliding out of place.

Both of their heads turned to the door in alert, Jude's finger still pressed into Tommy's chest.

A short, brunette maid stepped through the door backwards, pulling a large crate of cleaning supplies.

"Thank goodness."Jude said quietly, letting out a relieved sigh. She turned around, grabbed her purse off the couch behind her, her helmet off of the receptionist's desk and stormed out of the office and into the fresh air. The sun was just beginning to rise as Jude threw her helmet on and revved her engine a few times in anger. She hit the gas and sped off down Main Street, heading straight for home, where her luggage waited.

She had to get out of town. Tonight.

------

**  
What did you think? Review, please!**


	22. Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance

**Holy cow, I am SO sorry! College literally took over my life this past month! I forgot how good it feels to write! But now that I've gotten everything under control again, expect more updates! The title comes from the song "Second Chance" by Shinedown. Oh, and by the way, the song from the last chapter, **_**Skips**_**, turns out it's from a demo from a few years back and not from Alexz's debut album. Thanks Jdancer189 for pointing it out.**

**Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance**

Jude sped into her driveway and made it to her front door in record time. The door slammed against the wall as she threw it open, drawing the attention of Sadie and Taylor, who sat, shocked, in the living room.

"Thanks for coming to get me, guys." Jude said sarcastically as she ran into the garage. She returned moments later with Sadie's suitcase in hand. "I can't find mine, so I'm borrowing yours." Jude explained as she ran up the stairs and into her room.

Taylor and Sadie stood staring at the stairs that Jude had disappeared up before running to follow her. They slowly opened Jude's bedroom door to see her violently throwing clothes into a now half full suitcase.

"Jude?" Taylor asked, cautiously.

Jude didn't look up from the dresser drawer that she was digging through.

"What happened?" Taylor almost whispered.

"Tommy. Tommy is what happened." Jude spun around to drop another armful of clothes into the quickly filling suitcase.

A half hour later, Jude emerged with a full suitcase in hand and added it to her pile of luggage by the front door. She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, stretching out her tired back.

Taylor and Sadie followed and sat halfway down the stairs, staring expectantly at Jude. Who ignored their presence for a moment before taking a seat next to them, staring straight ahead.

"I'm going back." She said softly.

"I kind of gathered that." Sadie responded, looking sideways at her sister.

"When?" Taylor asked, looking down, clearly hurt.

Jude sighed. "Tonight? I don't know, I mean I haven't even checked the flights yet, but I just need to go, need to get away."

"Get away from Tommy?" Sadie asked.

"More like get out of Tommy's way."

Sadie nodded. "Are you sure about this?"

"No." Jude admitted, letting out a broken chuckle. "But when has that ever stopped me."

The girls laughed quietly before returning to silence.

"So what now? Airport?" Taylor asked after a few moments.

"I've got to go do something first. Will you guys wait for me and we'll go to the airport as soon as I get back?"

"Of course," Sadie said, rubbing Jude's back. "whatever you need."

Jude nodded, walked to the door, picked up the small shopping bag off the floor and walked out to her car.

"Where do you think she's going?" Taylor asked, her focus on the door.

Sadie gazed through the glass in the door and watched Jude pull out of the driveway. "Knowing Jude, she's going to say goodbye."  
---

Jude slowly pulled her car in front of Tommy's house. Staring up at it, she dreamed of the life she could have had and then sighed, knowing that that dream was dead and that dwelling would do her no good. She checked the driveway and house for signs of life before slowly opening her door and stepping out into the road. She made her way tentatively to the front door. She lifted her hand to knock before thinking better of it and putting the bag down on the doorstep. Glancing back at the door once more, she shook any thoughts of reconsidering out of her head and walked back to her car.

----  
Jude took a deep breath as she lay on the hood of her car and stared up at the sky. The view from her meadow always used to calm her, but now it was a cruel reminder of everything she had to leave behind. Tears slowly fell down her cheeks as she thought through each thing she was leaving behind. She was about to leave all of her sources of comfort and happiness for a world of superficial pleasure but no real joy.

The vibration of her phone alerted Jude to a new text message from Sadie. She flipped the phone open and glanced at it. '_Last flight leaves in three hours, if you're set on leaving today, you need to be home in a half hour._'

Jude shut the phone and sighed. The thought of getting on the plane in a few hours made her cringe, but after last night she knew there was no other way. She had to let him move on so she could move on. She closed her eyes, determined on enjoying her last few moments before making the drive home.

The sounds of another car alerted her that she wasn't alone. Jude sat up and turned around to see Tommy stepping out of his blue Viper. She turned back to the sky, ignoring his presence, staying in her own world for as long as possible.

Tommy walked and stood next to her car, staring down at Jude. "I think we should talk."

Jude sighed. "No, we've done all the talking. No more talking." She said, still not looking at him.

"Jude, please." Jude was surprised by how soft his voice was. Knowing that the tone he had and the puppy eyes he was undoubtedly giving her would make her unable to leave; she focused more on the sky and tried to block him out. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"It's about Sasha." Tommy said, clearly ignoring her wishes.

Jude had tried her hardest to remain strong and peaceful, but this was just hitting below the belt. She shot up and turned to him. "Don't."

Tommy jumped slightly at her sudden outburst. "Jude, I-"

"No, Tommy. Don't come here to _my _spot, ignore my request to be alone and then bring up Sasha!"

Jude jumped off of the hood of her car and marched right past Tommy to the driver's door. "Jude, you don't understand."

"Oh, I understand, Tommy. Believe me; I understand enough to know that I'm only in your way. So why don't you go back and tell Sasha that she got her wish, I'm leaving, and she can finally have her clichéd fairy tale ending." Jude shouted.

"Leaving?" His soft voice shook with shock and ripped Jude right out of her anger.

Jude looked down at the grass, before saying softly. "You should really work things out with her. I know she has to be special if you're going to marry her." She quietly got in her car and turned it on, putting it into reverse.

She stared straight ahead, her knuckles turning white from the grip she had on the steering wheel. "I love you." Her voice cracked with the exposure of her buried secret as tears pooled in her eyes once again.

She hit the gas and disappeared out of the meadow and down the road, leaving Tommy standing alone, staring at the place where she had just stood. "I love you too." He whispered to himself.

----

Jude wiped tears away from her eyes as Sadie let her out of a hug.

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

Jude silently pulled Taylor into a hug, holding her tight. "I love you, you know that?"

Taylor nodded. "I know." She whispered.

Jude stood, staring at the two most important girls in her life for a moment, before pulling them into one last hug, a girl under each arm.

"I wish you were coming with me."

"Well, I'll be there in a month." Sadie said casually.

Jude looked at her shocked.

"I arranged with Darius to go and oversee the World Instant Star finale, two weeks, all expenses paid." She smiled.

"Are you serious?" Jude squealed, pulling Sadie back into a hug.

"So, if it's the finale, then you'll be there too right?" Jude asked, looking excitedly at Taylor.

"Yeah, I'll be at the finale, but my producer thought I could use some one on one time with my mentor before it." Jude looked at her puzzled, so Taylor pulled a plane ticket out of her back pocket and handed it to Jude. "You up for a roommate?"

"You're coming with me?" Jude screamed, attracting the attention of everyone nearby.

"I'm coming with you!" Taylor laughed.

Sadie lifted Taylor's duffle bag out of the trunk and pulled Jude into one last hug. "I'll see you soon. Be safe." Then hugged Taylor. "Keep an eye on her."

Taylor nodded and smiled.

The girls all said their final goodbyes and Taylor and Jude walked side by side through airport security, turning to wave one last time before turning the corner and walking out of sight.

----

Later that night, Sadie heard a soft knock at the front door. She knew it couldn't be Kwest because he was working late with Tommy and wouldn't be coming over for at least a few hours. She opened the door to see a very disheveled Tommy holding the bag Jude had carried out of the house earlier, which was now empty, in one hand and Jude's bear, Little Q., in the other.

"So, she's gone?"

"Yeah, a few hours ago." Sadie said softly.

Tommy nodded and cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that was forming there. He stood there for a moment with his head down before walking away, defeated. She wasn't positive, but Sadie could have sworn she saw him wipe tears away from his face before driving away.

Seeing Tommy this hurt and knowing Jude was drowning under the same pain made Sadie do something she had sworn not to do-intervene. She shut the door softly and pulled out her phone. "Kwest, it's about Tommy."

----

**What did you think? Review please! **


	23. Something Always Brings Me Back to You

**A/N: I know it's been forever since I updated. Long story short, got caught up in finals, then my computer crashed, I lost everything on my hard drive, had to buy a new one and then find time to write. But here it is. The title is from "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles. Please Review. We're really close to the end. Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Something Always Brings Me Back to You**

Jude threw open the door of her apartment, dropped her bags and collapsed on the couch. Taylor followed, only seconds behind. She gently laid down her bags and looked around the apartment. After a moment, she began to wander down the hallway, looking into each room, exploring her temporary home. When she returned a few minutes later, she leaned over the back of the couch. Jude opened one eye to see Taylor staring down at her, expectantly.

"Yes?" Jude said as she closed her eye again.

"What now?" Taylor said, with a half smile.

"Excuse me?" Jude said, opening her eyes and staring at Taylor in confusion.

"Well, you've left for a new life, come home to try to fix your old one, gotten shot dealing with my boy drama, lived to deal with your own and have now come back to England, leaving all your problems in America. So, what now?"

"Now, we sleep."

"Jude!"

"Tay, we've just spent nine hours on a plane. I know you're on a travelers high, but I've been here before, so what I need is sleep."

"But-"

"Sleep." Jude shook her head and rolled over. "Then I promise we'll play."

Taylor sighed and carried her bags into the guest room and began to unpack.

-----

Two days later, Jude awoke to the smell of bacon. She stumbled out of her room and sat at the kitchen counter.

"You take good care of me." Jude smiled as she reached for a piece of cooked bacon.

Taylor laughed. "Well, you've been catering to each of my tourist whims since we got here; I figured it was my turn to treat you to something."

Jude happily ate her bacon as Taylor slid a stack of tabloids down the counter to Jude.

"Breakfast plus trashy tabloids from home? I could get use to this."

Taylor laughed. "Don't."

Jude flipped through the pages laughing and gasping at the outrageous stories of the first two magazines. She picked up the third and began thumbing through but stopped suddenly and stared at the picture in front of her. She groaned and slammed the story about her and Tommy shut and slid the stack off the counter and into the trash. "Put an ocean between us, and the media still throws him in my face."

Taylor loaded up a plate of bacon and eggs and looked at her sympathetically. "Enough about him, today's about you. So what are we doing today, Jude?"

Jude smiled. She had a few ideas.

----

Tommy stormed into G-Major. His face covered in a two day long five o'clock shadow and huge sunglasses covering his bloodshot eyes. He hadn't slept, showered, shaved or left the house since the night Jude boarded that plane and he wasn't in any mind set to deal with anyone. He walked straight into Studio B, not looking at anyone and slammed the door behind him.

Kwest spun around in his chair, startled at the noise.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Kwest half laughed.

Tommy shot him a glare, took a sip from his coffee and took a seat. "Let's just get to work."

Kwest raised an eyebrow but shook off his thoughts and turned back to his soundboard, passing Tommy a CD. "Here's today's project." Kwest reached back and grabbed three more. "Oh and these are the ones you missed because you were out "sick" the past two days. At least that's what I told Darius you said when you called me to tell me you weren't coming in."

Tommy nodded. "Thanks for covering for me."

"Just don't get _sick _again anytime soon."

"Yeah. Got it." Tommy responded as he pushed the first CD into the player and began adjusting the levels.

When Kwest was sure Tommy was too absorbed in his work to notice him, he slid the tabloid he had been reading when Tommy came in and carefully dropped it into his bag, making sure it was out of sight. He knew Tommy couldn't handle reading that story about him and Jude or seeing the pictures of them together. Tommy was on the edge and that story would push him over.

He double checked that it wasn't visible and turned back to his work.

-----

Jude and Taylor drove around London. In the past two days they had covered all the tourist destinations, today Jude was showing Taylor around her new life. They had covered her favorite park, her favorite restaurant and were now on their way to her new label.

Jude pointed out things as she drove and they laughed over her stories until they pulled up in front of their destination. Jude led Taylor through the door and introduced her to people as they passed them.

Jude yelled across the lobby to a tall brunette. "Hey Jenny, have you seen Paul and Ricky?"

"They're in the Blue Room." Jude nodded and smiled.

"Blue Room?" Taylor asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, they use colors to name their studios instead of letters. The owners wanted to seem original." Jude shrugged as she led Taylor down the hall and into a recording studio with a blue door.

"Boys." Jude smiled. Paul, a twenty-two year old with sandy blonde hair, and Ricky, a twenty-five year old brunette, both shot up and engulfed Jude in huge hugs.

"When did you get home?" Ricky asked, a huge smile on his face.

"A few days back. I've been treating the newbie here to the London tour."

"Newbie?" Paul asked.

"Oh right, guys this is Taylor. She's the newest Canadian Instant Star, she's got more talent than either of you combined and is completely off limits, Ricky." Jude stared at Ricky threateningly.

"What?" Ricky asked, feigning innocence. Jude rolled her eyes and changed the subject.

An hour later, Jude and Taylor walked back out to the car and got back on the road.

"So, they seem nice." Taylor reflected.

"Yeah, they're great. Really great, they're just not Kwest and-" Jude paused. "They're just not Kwest."

Taylor chose to go along with Jude's change in meaning. "Yeah, I can see how you could miss his sandwiches. Recording just isn't the same with a Kwest sandwich."

Jude laughed, choosing to ignore the pain that was stabbing at her heart. She pushed the memories back down and focused on their next destination. She'd get past this pain eventually. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

-----

Tommy played the song for the fifth time that hour. Something was wrong but no matter what he did he couldn't fix it. It was a stupid pop song, with meaningless lyrics and a ridiculous beat and it was his job to make it sound like a hit, but all he heard was crap. Hopeless crap. He tried a few more adjustments and played the song again. He stood and paced back and forth as he listened. He made it through about thirty second before his frustration got the better of him. He threw the CD case against the glass window that looked into the sound booth and stormed into there. He couldn't stand one more second of looking at the mess the last artist had left. Microphones were strewn across the floor, cables were tangled into knots and various papers cluttered the room. He began sorting through the mess, grumbling to himself as he pulled harder than necessary on a stuck cord.

Kwest had watched the whole scene play out from the lobby. He knew Tommy was hurting but enough was enough. He walked into the studio and leaned against the soundboard, pushing the microphone button. "Tom, that's enough." He said calmly but firmly.

Tommy kept cleaning. "Enough? Hah, that's rich."

"What is your problem?" Kwest asked, done putting up with Tommy's crap.

"What is my problem? Are you serious?! My problem is that the love of my life left me not once, but twice. She's gone and now I'm stuck here trying to make some semblance of music out of that garbage in there when all I want to do is crawl back under my rock." Tommy sighed, his anger breaking.

"What about Sasha."

"It was never Sasha, man. It's Jude. It's always been Jude. But I lost her, and I don't see how I'll ever get another chance."

A smile spread across Kwest's face as he lifted up a plane ticket. "Well, maybe I can help you with that."

-----

Jude and Taylor stepped out of the elevator on her floor that night. They had shopped for a solid six hours and had eaten at seven different restaurants, each time only ordering an appetizer or dessert. To say that Jude was exhausted would have been an understatement. Taylor followed, her eyes drooping shut as she walked.

"I can't wait to go to bed." She groaned.

Jude nodded in agreement. Her hallway had never seemed so long.

Taylor slouched forward, trying to balance her body's exhaustion with the dozen shopping bags she was carrying. She readjusted and took a few more steps before all the bags slipped out of hands and crashed to the floor. Jude glanced back as Taylor groaned and bent down.

"Need help?" Jude had barely managed to get out the offer before a huge yawn overtook her body.

Taylor let out a weak laugh. "No, you go unlock the door, I'll be right there."

Jude nodded and kept stumbling to the end of the hallway.

All she could think about was her bed; she wanted so badly to go to sleep.

As she passed her neighbors door she began to fumble with her keys, searching for the right one. She finally found it and looked up to face her front door only to find it open.

Suddenly all her exhaustion melted away and was replaced with adrenaline. "Why is my door open?" She said quietly to herself.

Taylor looked up. "What did you say?"

"My door." Jude said, staring at it confused. "It's open."

Taylor's eyes widened in alertness as Jude took a step forward to enter. "Jude, you can't go in there!"

"I'm not too worried; we probably just didn't shut it tight when we left this morning. And if not, you've seen the front desk, no one gets in that doesn't live here and I know all of my neighbors. Besides, what's the worst-?"

Jude's sentenced faded as she stared at the figure in front of her. "Tommy?"

----

**A/N: So, what did you think? Review!**


	24. Two is Better Than One

**A/N: Hey! I hope you like it! I've stressed over making it just right for the past two weeks, but I hate keeping you guys waiting, so I finally decided to post it. Hope you like it! Please review! The title is from the song "Two is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls. Happy Reading!**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Two is Better Than One**

"Jude."

Jude stood frozen, staring at the impossible. Tommy Quincy was standing in her living room on a completely different continent than she had said goodbye to him on only a few days earlier. She knew she should say something back, but no words came, only shock.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Taylor stood behind Jude, her jaw dropped, staring at the only guy in the room. The three of them stood staring at each other for a few silent moments before Jude's mind kicked back into gear.

"Hey, Tay-" Jude glanced over her shoulder. "Would you mind?"

"Oh, yeah. Of coarse." Taylor stepped past Jude as began walking down the hallway. "It's really good to see you Tommy." Tommy smiled at her and nodded as she passed. "I'll just be in my room, far far out of earshot."

When she reached the end of the hallway she turned back to face Jude, out of Tommy's sight. She silently jumped up and down as she mouthed her encouragements to Jude. "Tell him you love him!"

Jude rolled her eyes and waved her away. Taylor gave her one final smile then ran into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her only to open it up a crack a moment later. She slid down the wall, her head next to the door and listened, while pulling out her phone and dialing Sadie.

Jude shut the front door and turned back to face Tommy.

Tommy stood in the corner of the room, the setting sun hitting his tired and yet hopeful face.

"What are you-"

"I just had to-"

Both Jude and Tommy stopped midsentence upon noticing the others words. They both chuckled nervously. "You first." Jude said.

Tommy cleared his throat. "I just had to come and clear a few things up."

"Do you wanna sit down?"

Tommy nodded and sat on the couch. Jude sat beside him and stared straight forward, silent.

"Do you want some coffee?" Jude stood before he could answer and turned toward the kitchen.

"Jude." Jude acted as though she hadn't heard him and took a step toward the kitchen. Tommy grabbed her arm, holding her in place. "Jude, I love you."

Jude spun back around staring at him in shock.

Tommy stood, still holding her arm. "I love you." He repeated.

Tommy watched as Jude's shock turned to anger.

"No. Okay? _No_. You don't get to come here after everything back home, after I put my feelings for you aside so you could have your own life, and tell me you love me. That's not fair."

"I love you." He repeated, staring into her eyes.

"Stop saying that! What about Sasha?"

"It's over."

"It's what?"

"It's over." He enunciated the words for her, trying to make his point. "If you had let me talk that day at the meadow instead of just driving off I could have told you then."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know how I disappeared for a few days about a week and a half back?" Jude nodded. "Well, during that time I spent all my time either with Sasha or alone. When I was with her I couldn't help but feel that something was missing and when I was alone that pain only got worse. Do you know the only thing that made it better?"

Jude shook her head.

"Thinking of you."

Tears glistened in Jude's eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I love you. I always have and I always will, and clearly nothing and no one is going to change that."

A tear slipped down Jude's cheek. Tommy wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. "Jude." He whispered.

"I love you too." She said through her tears.

Tommy pulled her to him. He leaned his forehead against hers and breathed her in. "I've missed you."

His whispered words were the last thing Jude heard before his lips captured hers.

He pulled away from her a few moments later. "There's just one more thing."

Jude laughed quietly. "What else could there be?"

"This." He said as he bent to one knee and pulled a ring box out of his coat pocket.

"Oh my gosh." Jude whispered to herself, covering her mouth.

"Jude Harrison, I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life. I see you and instantly my day is better. I think of seeing you and I can't help but smile. You are my world. With you I know that everyday will be perfect and I know that as long as you're beside me, I can make it through anything."

Another tear slipped down Jude's face.

"Jude Harrison, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Yes." She nodded quickly. "Absolutely, yes!"

Tommy stood and wrapped Jude in his arms, spinning her around.

"I love you." She squealed as he kissed her.

He set her down and slid the ring on her finger, barely letting her out of his arms.

"It's perfect." She gasped.

"No. You're perfect."

She smiled and moved her lips up to his.

When she pulled back she stared at the ring and smiled. "I have to call Sadie!"

"She's already on the phone." Taylor called as she ran out of her room and down the hallway.

Jude and Tommy couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I'd share the news with you, but clearly you heard the whole thing."

Taylor laughed and hugged Jude.

"Here, talk to your sister." She said as she handed Jude the phone.

Jude eagerly took it and Taylor hugged Tommy. "Glad to see you could make it." She laughed.

He laughed with her. "You have no idea how glad I am too."

"Sadie!" Jude squealed into the phone. "How do you feel about planning a wedding?" Jude giggled and dished the details to her big sister.

Tommy couldn't help but smile as he watched the love of his life laughing, completely happy. She was perfect, amazing and completely his. Finally.

----

**A/N: What did you think? This isn't the end, but it's pretty close. REVIEW!**


	25. It's a Love Story, Baby Just Say Yes

**A/N: Okay, so I know that the award for biggest slacker and procrastinator goes to me and I'm really sorry! But here it is, the final chapter of Unrelinquished Love. Thank's for sticking by me and reviewing. Please review after this one and let me know your favorite moments from the story.  
****The title is from the song Love Story by Taylor Swift.  
************Happy Reading! **

**Chapter Twenty-Five: It's a Love Story, Baby Just Say Yes**

Jude stared down at the ring on her hand as it caught the suns light. Its beauty was stunning in the shadows, but when the sun hit it, the way it sparkled was breathtaking. She smiled as Tommy's hand slid into hers. She kissed him softly on the lips before resting her head on his shoulder. The limo slowed to a stop as they approached the commotion that awaited them. Jude could already see the flashes of the cameras and knew she only had a few more moments of peace in a world that was just hers. She had loved living in a place that was just her and Tommy but it was time to clue the public in.

"Ready for your first picture of the night?" She asked.

Tommy nodded and smiled. Jude pulled out her digital camera and extended her arm so that it was pointing toward her. Just as she pushed down on the button, Tommy turned his head and kissed her cheek. Jude blushed and smiled wider as the flash filled the limo. She smacked his arm playfully. He laughed and kissed her cheek again.

"Just practicing, you know the press is going to have a field day with us."

Jude couldn't help but laugh. They were moments away from announcing their marriage to the entire world. They had managed the impossible. They had had their wedding in complete peace and secrecy. Only their closest friends were there and had kept their marriage private in the month that followed. But tonight was the World Instant Star finale and they couldn't miss it, so tonight became the night that they would officially announce themselves as the Quincys, now and forever.

Jude laid her head back down on her husbands shoulder, enjoying the peace. A few moments later the limo pulled up and Jude glanced out the window at the chaos.

"Are you sure about this? I mean we could just keep driving and the press would never have to know."

"Jude, do you really want to miss Taylor's big night?"

Jude shook her head. "No. I've just loved having it be just us. I don't want them to ruin it."

Tommy lifted Jude's chin so that he could look into her eyes. "Jude, nothing is going to ruin this. I know you're scared, but I'm not leaving your side until you ask me to. So unless you're having second thoughts about us, you're just gonna have to be stuck with me."

Jude laughed quietly. "Then I guess I'm stuck with you."

Tommy nodded as he leaned in and captured her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered.

"Ready?" Tommy asked as he tiled his head to the red carpet waiting outside her window.

She nodded and took his hand. "Ready."

The driver stepped out and opened Jude's door, exposing her to the waiting cameras.

Tommy took her hand and followed her out of the limo and into the waiting crowd.

Shouts could be heard from every person with a camera.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Tommy, what happed to Sasha?"

"Jude, are quitting music to move back home?"

Jude smiled for a few pictures before she stepped up to the E! cameras, ready for the only interview should would give.

Their reporter leaned the microphone to Jude's mouth.

"So, are two officially a couple now?" She asked.

Jude laughed. "I guess you could say that."

"Any wedding bells in the future?"

Tommy stepped closer to his wife's side. "More like in the past."

The reporter stood confused for a moments and Jude couldn't help but laugh.

Tommy released his hold on Jude's left hand, revealing her ring. "We're married!" Jude shouted as she held up her hand to show the crowd.

Instantly all cameras were on them and questions were being thrown their way a mile a minute, but Jude just smiled and took her husbands hand before walking the rest of the way to the theater, leaving the crowd standing in shock.

Once inside they quickly found their seats next to Sadie and Kwest. Jude hugged her sister as Tommy and Kwest made small talk.

As Sadie recounted her encounter with a particularly unpleasant woman at the mall earlier that day, Jude couldn't help but think of what was in stow for her sister. Sadie didn't have a clue, but Tommy had let it slip that Kwest was planning to propose later that night.

Jude smiled at Sadie, holding back giggles.

"What?" Sadie asked.

Jude shook her head. "Nothing, I'm just happy."

Sadie laughed and continued on with the story she had been telling until the lights dimmed and the night began.

The next two hours were unbearably long for the four friends who sat in the front row watching their new friend compete for the title of World Instant Star, but they couldn't compete with the two minutes they were facing right now.

The host had Taylor and her competition on stage and the judges were giving their last bits of criticism and praise before the winner was announced. By the time the host reached for the envelope, Jude had stopped breathing all together. As he began to read the winners name, Jude squeezed Tommy's hand so tight she was sure that she was cutting off the circulation.

As always the host drew out the process of naming the winner, which, as always, gave Jude the urge to punch him, but she held back, if only because her hand with intertwined with Tommy's and she would have to climb over Darius to get there; but if he didn't hurry up, not even Darius could hold her back.

Lucky for him, he was done stalling. He took one final breath before speaking to the silent audience.

"And your new World Instant Star is….Taylor Freedman!"

Tommy and Kwest both flinched as Jude and Sadie screamed while they jumped up and down.

Taylor's knees began to buckle and she had to bend over to gather strength. She was clearly overwhelmed. When she straightened up she had tears in her eyes and a huge smile on her face. She hugged her fellow contestants and stood next to the host. He put his arm around her and shared the microphone with her.

"Taylor, you've had quite the past few months haven't you?"

Taylor laughed and nodded. "That's an understatement."

The host laughed along with the audience. "So after everything that has happened, how does it feel to win?"

Taylor opened her mouth but was at a loss for words. She shrugged and laughed. "Amazing? I'm not even sure if that sums it up. It's the best thing in the world and I'm so happy! But I couldn't have done it without everyone who voted and of coarse my new family." Taylor smiled toward Jude's row and all of the cameras turned to them. "Thank you doesn't even begin to cut it."

The host handed Taylor her own microphone and backed off stage as the music to Taylor's final song of the night began to play.

To those looking in, this may seem like an ending, but Jude knew better. She finally had everything she ever wanted, and her new life was just beginning.

**A/N: What did you think? Review!**

**P.S. I'm considering throwing in some deleted scenes-moments that I wanted to put in, but couldn't ever fit. What do you guys think? Would you want those?**


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